Jason Aldean released a song in 2023 titled "Try That In A Small Town." It touched off a firestorm of controversy, as did the video that went with it. The track mentions acts of urban violence and intimidation, like sucker punching someone and carjacking a senior citizen. But the takeaway is that in small-town America, "we take care of our own." The song communicates that rowdy, lawless behavior isn't tolerated because residents in those close-knit, neighborly communities always have each other's backs. The video attracted its share of negativity because it was filmed at a Tennessee courthouse where a lynching reportedly occurred in the 1920s. Per NPR, it was also the site of racial unrest in the 1940s. Trace Cyrus, 36, the musician son of Billy Ray Cyrus, recently shredded Aldean for the song.
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Per pennlive.com, Cyrus really came out swinging against the song in a video that appeared on Instagram Stories. "Guys, I was just sitting in my kitchen and this stupid (expletive) song came on the radio. Remember this went viral? And everyone knows, like I'm as patriotic as it gets. I love Trump and American and all that (expletive) but listen to how stupid this is. Like, this is what's on the radio, and the (expletive) bad (expletive) song that I been talking about all night, like no one is really listening to. But like this is what's popular."
Trace Cyrus Had Even More To Say About Aldean's Song
He zeroed in on some of the lyrics. "Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk ... let's hear this again, I don't even know what ...Carjack an old lady at a red light! OK, bro great job. Good job. You wrote a song brother. Wow. Congratulations. Claps for you. What the (expletive)?"
Cyrus continued, "I don't know what the (expletive) stupid (expletive) station was playing that stupid carjacking on a sidewalk song ... what station is this?" he said. "Like 95.5, like (expletive) replace that song right now with 'On the Run,' because that song is trash for real." In case you wondered, "On The Run" is a song by Cyrus himself.
He kept right on going. "I'm not trying to like completely destroy Jason Aldean's soul right now but no one wants to hear that on the radio," he continued. "That is obviously paid for to be on the radio or something, and the fact that they shut down the Columbia town square to shoot that video, and I literally had my girl shoot my video on my iPhone and then I edited it myself and my video is cooler than his stupid (expletive) video. Like, this is how dumb these record labels are, guys. I'm not trying to be a (expletive) right here now. They are still putting (expletive) like this on country radio and nobody wants to hear it."
Aldean Defended The Song In 2023
According to NPR, Aldean firmly stood behind the song two years ago. He posted on Twitter (now X), "There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it. 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. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart."
Per the outlet, the production company responsible for the video denied that the courthouse site was selected because of an "alternative narrative."
