Opinion : Try that in a small town

By Valerie Close, Editor · July 20, 2023, 10:59 pm

Song by Jason Aldean - Try that in a Small Town

Country singer, Jason Aldean the guy who was onstage during a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 dared to record a song called 'Try That In A Small Town.'

As a result, everyone is melting down. The song was released in May and is just now getting people all up in arms...about the song, not about the behavior he's describing in the song.

Aldean said that it "summarizes the way a lot people feel about the world right now. It seems like there are bad things happening on a daily basis, and that feels unfamiliar to a lot of us. This song sheds some light on that."

Of course, being from a small town, I get the sentiment. Those not from a small town don't. It's that simple. We're still in that "disagree but do it kindly and use your words." But even in a small town sometime those get twisted around to say what you didn't say. However, we try to be fair with everyone.

In Vinton, we respect our law enforcement. We love our flag. Most of us still believe that we have the right to bear arms. But many don't believe that in a city.

We also would do anything for our friends and neighbors, it's what we do in a small town!

Country Music Television (CMT) pulled the song down but didn't say why. CMT is owned by the MTV Network, and a subsidiary of CBS News' parent company Paramount, none of the entities gave a reason.

Of course, the mental geniuses of The View decided to jump on the bandwagon and call the song racist, because of where Aldean is from. Supposedly the courthouse featured in the video was the site of a lynching some decades ago. Here I just though it looked like the courthouse from the movie "Back to the Future." So, there you have it. It's all in your perspective. Or your platform.

Just because someone says a song is racist or has racist undertones doesn't make it true. Most things can be twisted into anything you'd like it to be. I try to take things at face value.

Aldean didn't feel the need to apologize and pull the song down like many would do nowadays. But then he doesn't need to apologize for anything, he hasn't done anything wrong other than point out a sentiment that a lot of us have. Why folks in New York City can't figure that out is beyond me.

But then it makes sense. They aren't from a small town....

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like
Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you're tough

[Chorus]
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
'Round here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

[Verse 2]
Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they're gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck

[Chorus]
Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
'Round here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

[Bridge]

Full of good ol' boys, raised up right
If you're looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town

[Chorus]
Try that in a small town
(See how far ya make it down the road)
'Round here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town, mm-mm

[Outro]
Try that in a small town

Comments

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GS August 9, 2023, 7:19 pm I wouldn't be adding on to this but Mr. Bolin called out my comments about Alabama. The recent events there shed some reality to this discussion thread: https://www.al.com/news/2023/08/montgomery-riverfront-brawl-watch-live-as-police-provide-update.html

DE July 26, 2023, 6:33 am "Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences" Reminder: he didn't write it and isn't from a "small town", so I don't know what he's talking about. About the library: it sounds like the councilmember called attention to morons being morons. And to pay your silly game about what it was about for one, the library isn't a babysitter or a playground - supervise your little crotch-goblins if you're afraid of what they'll learn, and for another, you have no say or right to what other people allow their crotch-goblins to learn or read. And along the lines of "mind your business instead of everyone else's", the murder victim I mentioned, with the Klansmen pallbearers, was also a very good Christian and head of the local temperance movement, the "I don't like alcohol so nobody can imbibe" thing of the early 1900s. Perhaps that's the reality of "small towns", the busy bodies & gossips, the people that rail against the "it takes a village" idea thinking it takes a "small town".

DB July 25, 2023, 6:10 pm Good Day, I have never responded to any opinion pieces on Vinton Today but I feel compelled to on this one given the comments that were stated. I have a few items of interest given the feedback and publicity that this song has gotten. 1) At no point does this song mention race. 2) Jason Aldean is from Macon, GA and has experienced far more race than small town Iowa has. 3) I have seen first hand, the aftermath, in Atlanta from the rioting, looting, thievery, violence, disrespect for Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters, First Responders, non-compliance, and overall lawlessness. 4) This behavior is not acceptable in any town of any size. Lastly, I am a former resident of Vinton for 30+ years and now reside in a small town in Georgia. My Family and I go to bed at night knowing that this type of behavior won't happen in Our small town. Dustin Bolin - Resident of Georgia. Former resident of Vinton. P.S. to Mr. JS - NKAWTG.... Nobody. Thanks for your service.

SJW July 25, 2023, 5:49 pm I've never watched The View, but all these comments from people who seem to think racism is a thing of the past make me want to check it out It must be a good program if you all watch it every day.

PK July 25, 2023, 5:07 pm NJG...You lash out at everyone you can't bully or come close to understanding their "correct" opinions. I'm proud to support Ron DeSantis!! He's young, intelligent, has vision, and won't let anyone push this country around. He also knows what to do with these illegal immigrants. Who do you support...An inept old man long overdue for his beach house rocking chair. . You cannot, for some reason, recognize a sinking ship. Break out your life preserver!! Oh, NJG...If you ever get stopped for a missing mud flap, be sure to raise your hands up high!! And I was born and raised in Vinton by Republican parents and grandparents. Never realized until recently how smart they were!!

DC July 25, 2023, 9:06 am The song is now a #2 hit. Evidently the CMA knows the song is just entertainment. Dave Coots

DL July 24, 2023, 6:13 pm SG, the only opinion I ever had about that wedding cake issue was... Why would anyone want someone to make a cake for you, that hates you that much? Also, it's so sad that someone that would use the word "Patriot" so loosely, can be so ignorant about our country's past. Yes, the Southern Democrats started the KKK. That's well documented in American History. Also well documented is the Democratic Party, without the support of the Southern Democrats, got the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed with very little help from Republicans. Abraham Lincoln (R) freed the slaves. But, 100 years later, the Southern Democrats switched to the R party. They revamped the KKK, since most of them had been Southern Democrats, into a killing machine, because of the hate they had for those human beings with dark skin.

GB July 24, 2023, 5:44 pm NG, the more misinformation you throw out there the more convinced I am you are getting your information from the fortune cookies at the Lotus Chinese Restaurant.

GB July 24, 2023, 5:32 pm Norma, it would appear you are again incredibly ignorant to the facts and reality. You talk about Biden getting a infrastructure bill passed. Haha. The version Biden was pushing had little to do with actual infrastructure! Like only 5% of it! The rest was the typical social programs and green energy with the largest benefits going to China! Even the bill that passed only resulted in 12% to 15% actually going to infrastructure! https://infratracker.gihub.org/?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwvilBhCFARIsADvYi7JqcyRWL4URe0rFEzbOouqiSMzHW9Lhe9hOg5fayp_tsbQw5_ByXdQaAn8pEALw_wcB Google it.

NJG July 24, 2023, 4:08 pm No Peggy, I am not a newcomer to this area. I have lived my whole like in Iowa, having been born and raised in Belle Plaine. I lived in Vinton from 1964 thru 1989 and then moved to CR for my job and not wanting to drive anymore. I had two daughters graduate from high school in Vinton. I could care less if you respect Democrats or not. I have no idea if Chauvin was a Democrat or not and I don't care. What he did was atrocious and he deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. Sad to say I believe there are too many police with the same feelings and I wish they would all be fired. I know we have many good policemen/women. I have great respect for blacks and always have and have some in my family. All you have to do is look at the republican legislators in Des Moines and in Washington to see the disrespect coming from their policy decisions. I believe Reynolds wants to be VP for DeSantis and is doing everything she can to please him. republicans do not do what the people want. Every decision they make is what they think is best for their party. Now Ron DeSantis is changing the curriculum for Florida schools. The new standards come as DeSantis, escalates his war on so-called “woke” education, which has included book bans, the rejection of an Advanced Placement course on African American studies, and the passage of the Stop WOKE Act, which bans schools and businesses from teaching anything that could make anyone feel “guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress." He is the person I have no respect for. So tell me which Democrats are disrespecting blacks. republicans had no problem accepting PPP loans and then having them forgiven using tax paper money. But now that some students need loans forgiven with tax payer money, now that is a different story. They are going to fight that, to hell with those students. It was President Biden who got the infrastructure bill passed while republicans all voted against it but them were there in their districts to take credit for getting it passed. They are HYPOCRITES. Gerald the video does not need to stretch if you understood even a little bit of what the black community has gone through. To them it is about race when the court house in the video is where there was a race riot and many were killed. You don't care about them, that is obvious. It appears you have no real understanding of what black people have gone through. Why was that court house the one that was put in the video? If Jason Aldean made any decisions about the video then he should answer that. There were many people, both black and white that were offended by that video. You didn't know anything about that court house so you don't care who is offended.

mh July 24, 2023, 1:31 pm I think it's a great song but the libs always want to make it about race or violence. Obviously they haven't listened to the lyrics of most of the rap songs. We need to quit being offended by everything. If you don't like the song then I suggest you don't listen to it. Due to all of the controversy, this song is in #1 on Billboard.

DE July 24, 2023, 7:18 am Vinton had very few non-white people prior to 1990. A couple Native American families, a couple of Black girls, a couple of Asian girls. I've heard two reasons for the late 80s increase, neither particularly appealing: someone realized the low income apartments were shockingly white and Blacks had to be imported from Waterloo & CR to maintain federal subsidies, or Chicago parole officers realized the best way to keep their clients from reoffending was to encourage them to relocate out of state. Maybe both, maybe neither - but it wasn't even 100 years ago Vinton had one of the state's only unsolved murders, a woman whose pallbearers were 6 fully decked-out Klansmen. I really don't think it's a big stretch to connect the two, considering how people like to cling to the "good old days". I'll mention the library again - a small-town so warm & welcoming, it couldn't even keep its library open for a summer. I'm not even going to speculate on compromises the current librarian has had to make to stave off the small-town welcoming committee. And lynching? The town hasn't had one of those, that I'm aware of, but nationally... James Byrd Jr. was just over 25 years ago. Ahmuad Aubrey was somewhat more recent. Guilty of walking home and of jogging. Any doubts who those perpetrators would have or did voted for? Vintonian endorsement of the song & video means quite a lot, but probably not what you'd want to think.

GB July 23, 2023, 9:09 pm SJW, here's a clue for you.. this video was nothing about lynching Clown. Take that agenda somewhere else like maybe the View. You seem dead set on a radical and racial agenda for everything! It's sick and perverted.

PK July 23, 2023, 7:26 pm Well...NJG, Welcome back!! I've missed you slamming my comments. Excuse me, but I think it's appropriate to capitalize Blacks now. Especially when someone like you "respects" them. I do, but I always have. Aren't you a newcomer in this area? The Republicans...The Republicans...You better take a look at some of your almighty democrats for disrespect toward the Blacks in this country. [You are looking through "blue-tinted" glasses!!] Yes, as I'm sure you noticed, I did not capitalize democrats because they DO NOT have my respect!! By the way, wasn't Derek Chauvin a democrat?

SJW July 22, 2023, 5:45 pm Florida just passed a law setting the educational standard about black history that "black slaves benefited from slavery because they learned valuable skills." Seems Aldean benefited from lynching because he got a hit song and a lot of support from racist Republican Nazis. Editor's note: Here is a link to the complete Florida law: https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20653/urlt/6-4.pdf

GS July 22, 2023, 4:20 pm Not every small town is the same; maybe that's the problem with this song. I spent much of my childhood in small town Vinton. While serving in the AF, I've spent a significant amount of time in the Montgomery Alabama area which is home of Air University. It's also considered the home of the civil rights movement but you wouldn't think that driving in to Montgomery from Interstate 20 which is the primary east/west corridor to Central Alabama. Make the drive through Demopolis and Selma and the small towns between and you'll better understand why this video could be considered in poor taste by a segment of our nation's population. Better yet, when you get to Montgomery try to find a bar or restaurant where a mixed race group of friends can hang out and really feel comfortable and welcome. Vinton may have it's problems and even a poor reputation from a tolerance perspective but it's nothing like the south that I've observed and experienced.

GB July 22, 2023, 10:53 am Love this song. The usual clowns try to twist it into their radical propaganda. Yet they have never complained about the music videos promoting gang and thug violence. They say nothing about the music videos promoting young minorities flashing handguns and gang signs while they glamorize robbing businesses and violence. So to stretch (really stretch) this video into something about race or vigilantes is ridiculous and a reflection of the double standard in this country. It also projects the an agenda of being racially motivated to always cry wolf when no wolf is present. This video is about the attitude of a small town. It does not matter if it's in Georgia, Tennessee or even Iowa. The lawlessness and total lack of accountability on criminals and thugs by those elected leaders is appalling and disgusting in those cities where it is allowed to exist.

SG July 22, 2023, 7:13 am DL Oh, PULEAZE. The song "promotes vigilante justice," do you not have an original thought of your own? The only "vigilante" implied is that if you beat up an old lady we might not just stand there while you do it. I'm guessing if you're around you'll just watch. "CMT shouldn't have to defend their decision to stop playing it. Nobody forced them to stop, and nobody can force them to play it." I bet you said the same about the baker in Colorado who didn't want to create a gay wedding cake. Who am I kidding? I bet your knickers were in a twist on that one too. DE So, the courthouse is in Tennessee, seriously. It could be in Vinton and the mob would find SOMETHING terrible that happened on the site. You want to bring up the library debacle that's laughable. That's on you and your leftwing fringe friends. There are parents who give a damn about what their children see at the library. And people lost their sh*** because parents give a damn. Why is that? One of our own city council members put us on the map by placing signs on the library lawn, to fan the flames of an idea that there is hate in Vinton. Smooth move. Good job. We had "dozens" I tell ya, dozens of people at a Pride Fest in town a few weeks ago to prove that we love everyone. (blame the weather, uh huh.) Obviously, we don't give a damn about who you sleep with around here. I mean, you can keep saying we hate in Vinton, but obviously, we don't and we're so over it. This town has more love in it for all of our people. The IDEA that we don't is where the hate is originating, and THAT needs to stop. Did you know that people can disagree and still love each other? At least, that's what the people that I know do, in a small town. As I type this I see you commented again on the Klansmen in Vinton for a funeral, You DO know that the Klan was made up of dare I say NOT MAGA types? Rather folks from your side of the aisle? So again, you need to deal with that. Jason Aldean said this about his song this weekend, not that anyone cares because the lines have been drawn...if you're patriotic you're a criminal...but here's his words: Jason_Aldean "In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far. As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about."

TF July 21, 2023, 11:23 pm The first thing that crosses my mind is that there are a lot of people who share the same sentiment when it comes to banning books. The feeling of frustration that comes from someone else's interpretation of something not matching our can come from any side of any spectrum. Todd Frank

NJG July 21, 2023, 4:39 pm This is an explanation of what makes people upset. To glorify that in a video when there certainly are other options. From what I understand it is the video that has been pulled. I guess you have to live and experience these things before you have compassion for what a video does to a black person who has heard about this their whole life. Now the Republican party in Washington is doing everything they can to take us back to the 50's when minorities had no rights and at the same time trying to destroy the LGBTQ+ community. They think it is OK for SCOTUS to be bought and paid for by the wealthy of this country. And that is only the beginning. Quote: The landmark was the site of race riots in 1946 as well as a 1927 lynching in which a white mob pulled an 18-year-old black man, Henry Choate, from jail and dragged him through the city by car, according to several media reports, including one detailed account from The Washington Post. Choate had allegedly confessed to attacking a 16-year-old white girl "to protect his life," even though the girl "could not positively identify him as the assailant," the Post reported. Time and time again a black person is stopped by the police for driving while black and ends up dead. This kind of garbage should have stopped by now but a policeman going to prison doesn't stop them. If a persons skin is black they have no value. There are many good police out there but many that are not. Norma J Gould

DE July 21, 2023, 3:06 pm SG Maury County Courthouse is in Colombia, Tennessee. Y'all so busy making excuses for him when you don't even know the basic facts of what you're talking about. If someone from, say, Davenport sings a song about homphobic/transphobic/xenophobic (look 'em up) small town Vinton (remember the national embarrassment y'all caused about the library last summer), y'all going to be all "Yeah... he gets it!"? I doubt it.

DL July 21, 2023, 2:13 pm That song is mostly about how hate in our country is handled differently in small towns, than they are in cities. On face value, this seems to promote vigilante justice. Does anyone really believe that our Constitution, and laws that it backs up, are different in small towns than they are in cities? Of course, this is just a song, an inanimate object. Jason Aldean shouldn't have to apologize for recording it. CMT shouldn't have to defend their decision to stop playing it. Nobody forced them to stop, and nobody can force them to play it. They we're forced into making a business decision, after all of the negative comments. They are a private business that made a business decision. It's all part of our American Republic Capitalism, and Democracy.

SH July 21, 2023, 1:27 pm Whether he wrote it or not, he's sang it. He must know something about small towns. He got it all right! Anyone from a small town can figure that out.

NM July 21, 2023, 1:14 pm Without actually doing a search of southern courthouses and locations, there are probably very few that would NOT have some sort of "racist" past purely based on the beginnings of our great country simply because at that time slavery was allowed. Just like it was "normal" in countries all over the world dating back centuries. It was truly a horrible thing that hangings and public ones at that happened, but we have grown and learned from those mistakes. They can not be erased and you simply cannot cancel someone for hearsay. I hear Cardi B's WAP or any other rapper for that matter and it is very clear our priorities are misaligned.

SG July 21, 2023, 12:16 pm DE Your guilty pleasure must be to watch the hags on The View. First, I didn't see anywhere in the article that said Aldean wrote the song. He's a performer. He sang the song. Everyone knows that. Second, as you say Aldean is from GA, why would he not choose a site that is aesthetically pleasing for his video and from his home state? Are the locations of something bad happening off the map for performers? Anyone who had time to research a video location had an agenda. Third, you say that Aldean doesn't know anything about small towns. How do you know that? I assume that a guy who let a song like this touch his heart must know something about small towns. Or maybe he's just a decent human being that doesn't have to be from one to understand one.

DE July 21, 2023, 9:26 am A couple points for clarity: Aldean didn't write the song, and he's from Macon, the 3rd largest city in Georgia. He doesn't know anything about "small towns". The song was released in May. The video was released July 14th. You can look up the history of that courthouse yourself. Google Maury County Courthouse.