Try That in a Small Town features lyrics threatening violence against protesters and has been removed from Country Music Television, but Aldean says it is a celebration of community
His song literally celebrates violence and the kind of mob mentality that leads to tremendous injustice. Oh, and his music video was filmed on the site of a lynching while it threatens black protesters today. Community? Really?
These people are stupid. If you want a gun you will get a gun regardless of law, the same way it’s been forever. Laws are just a false sense of security in America.
When we’re discussing an American singer talking about American issues, and reactions by other Americans pointing out American history? Yes. Because it’s not relevant to the discussion at hand. It’s whataboutism and counterproductive. Again, we’re specifically talking about America here. Stay on topic.
Your whataboutism doesn’t even work here. The USA was born in native American genocide, an international slave trade, and rampant settler colonial capitalism. At least the next time when you’re doing racist dogwhistles on lemmy pick a country that the US 24-hour news cycle wants you to derail about like Russia and China you absolute tool. Blaming the global south was so Cold War ago.
Whataboutism at its finest. Par for the course for Muricans who believe they are king of the hill in everything but just can't admit that also includes gun deaths, Black maternal mortality rates, homelessness and healthcare expenditures.
What a weird quote. America is all about promoting violence. Washington loves its wars, especially when non-Americans are getting killed in foreign countries, and tens of millions of people across the country feel the same way. Hell, even the national anthem is glorifying violence.
Why do I suspect his ass is the first to flee when shit gets real? Doubt he can live up to his own lyrics, evidence has shown most of these people can’t.
At the end of the day, the root cause of bigotry is cowardice. Maybe stupidity and indoctrination got them where they are, but for 100% of them, it’s cowardice that’s keeping them there.
Reeeeal grand of the Guardian to criticize the lyrics of someone’s song when they never called the Black Lives Matters rioters uh rioters. Insane hypocrisy from some leftist media.
Jason Aldean is also the one who sang that “transgender people is not a real ontological category” — which, if you know biology and you know history, is an exact quote from the Nazis, who built the genocide of millions out of the notion of “Entarte” — usually translated to English as “Degenerate” but which literally translates as “without ontological category”.
He openly called for genocide of transgender people. Conservatives ate it up.
He and his record label and fans are all a part of a violent extremist hate group.
I’ve read the lyrics and listened to the song. What are you on about? Is it not enough to merely recognize the song (and the video’s setting and content!?) as racist? Are the dog whistles so lowkey that you have to make shit up?
I’m guessing Jason Aldean has never pronounced the word “ontological” or “entarte”, let alone sang it. Just how smart are you saying this guy is?
They’re right, though. If you search for “Aldean ontological” the only result you’ll get with both words is this very thread. I don’t see anything fascist about correcting a factual error.
Just curious, do you feel triggered by Aldean being called out because you like bigotry, or do you just have really shitty taste in music and the delusion that your favorite cuntry star must be a good person?
What in the world on you on about? Never heard his name until this shit came up. The only country I listen to is much older stuff, I have no awareness of modern country, at all.
We’re talking about an in-your-face racist song, and now suddenly it’s about trans folks?! The trans community is trod upon quite well enough with finding digs on them where it doesn’t exist.
You’re hell bent on insisting that I am. Been here 1 solid day. Have a look at my comment history. Come back and tell me I’m a racist, conservative, jack-booted thug.
My point was that some people, somehow, don’t find the despicable nature of the song/video to be BROAD enough. They gotta get their little group in on the offense.
“I’m a liberal gun owner (<-true) and I feel targeted! I’m a victim too!”
It looks like it was some doucher from the Daily Wire during a speech at CPAC, but it was in response to Aldean’s comment of literally “eradicating transgenderism.”
Idk, close enough. If it walks like a nazi and talks like a nazi, then it’s probably a nazi.
you can’t say that! something something the left always accuses me of being a Nazi for disagreeing with them, all I want to do is lynch N******, T*********, and F***!
did I forget anything of the new standard fascist playbook?
It was Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire that said “transgender people is not a real ontological category.” While I could see Aldean agreeing with that, I can’t seem to find it in any of his songs.
Are you suggesting that when John Fogerty wrote that song in 1969 he wasn’t opposed to spoiled rich folk? That’s one perspective, but he said the exact opposite…
You’d hear about the son of this senator or that congressman who was given a deferment from the military or a choice position in the military. They seemed privileged and whether they liked it or not, these people were symbolic in the sense that they weren’t being touched by what their parents were doing. They weren’t being affected like the rest of us.
In point of fact, when Fogerty found out that Trump was using his song, he issued a cease and desist order.
Why is this shitty country song being targeted by the news? There are so many other country songs with lyrics like this, and there are plenty even more troubling. Sick of seeing this headline. We’re giving attention to something that doesn’t deserve it, and it sucks.
Because it’s recent and CMT took action. Nothing new here.
I’m a liberal redneck, got a country list on Spotify.
“Country Boy Can Survive”, strikes a chord with me, not hellishly racist. I get it.
I like “Song of the South”, I feel much of it, but the name itself is a dog whistle. If you listen to the words, well, things got better with FDR? 🤷🏻♂️ Make of it what you will.
“Indian Outlaw” is catchy, zero hate, could even be called positive. (Not by me.) Seems damned offensive to a Native American. Done with that one.
“Try That in a Small Town” is kinda OK, on its own. I get the sentiment. We small town folks take care of ourselves. Because we have to. OTOH, the video and backdrop, Jesus Fucking Christ, he might as well have said kill invading n****rs.
Anyway, different songs from different times. Now is not the time to release shit like this and try to claim… Whatever the fuck he came out with. I’m exhausted.
EDIT: LOL my God. The song and video were worse than I remembered. Song isn’t even catchy, even with the video off, it’s just dreck. And change that from “kill invading n****rs” to “kill all libs/woke/whatever”.
This country lib is armed, for whatever that’s worth.
A “celebration of community” would have lyrics about helping each other, attending local events and supporting local businesses. It would reference knowing people’s names, watching families grow up together, pitching in to help neighbours and being able to relax & feel content.
It shouldn’t contain combative themes, othering, divisive language and threats of violence.
Something about this comment flipped a switch for me. This is how these people bond. They find common ground in fearing the same out-groups. To them, that is exactly what “community” is, sharing a common enemy.
Anyone talking honestly about southern community is going to come off real anarchist/communist/leftist/whatever. A large part of rural life is mutual aid, a staple of leftist movements. Rural people vote conservative because they’re told to hate someone else though, and that’s it. Ideologically they are more leftist, though often with conservative social values regarding family and faith.
So I’m pretty far left (for an American), but I think there is a nuance that I’ve had explained at me by some non-mouth-frothing Republican types I’ve worked with.
For them, there is a difference between choosing to be part of community, helping other people, and sharing what they have, and being forced to do those things (via taxes). It always struck me as… exclusionary. It means that they can help their literal neighbor and ignore the people on the other side of town (or the other side of the country).
So it may feel like it’s leftist/communist/etc, but it’s just an extension of “fuck you, I got mine” to “fuck everyone else, me and mine got ours, and only on my terms.”
That is a really interesting take that I hadn’t fully considered until reading your comment, so thank you! I think this is very accurate for a lot of rural community members, especially those with hard R leanings. I think when we start from the other end of the spectrum it’s easy to say oh they must be compelled by emotional responses to issues like abortion/gun rights, when really it could be they want more autonomy.
Buuuutttttt… they also don’t want others to have the same autonomy regarding birth control and healthcare so we’re still at an impasse, and you’re right it’s totally a case of fuck you I got mine (extended cut).
Non-frothing conservative checking in, there is indeed a nuance not unlike what you said. However. I think some of that comes from past experiences, precedence. We know charity & people-driven initiatives are powerful! Can be effective. Government-driven (/taxpayer funded) initiatives? Incompetent. Often wasteful.
Like all the billions to Ukraine, Google says it’s “over 75 billion” and I thought I’ve heard $90B in the past. How much has actually hit the front lines, been ACCOUNTED FOR and USEFUL? I’ve heard $30B. 😔 That is (/was) our money, and we’ve got plenty of problems at home.
We do care about helping people, in a sensible & straightforward manner. A hand up, not a hand out, to bring about actual positive change. There is accountability. People help people. Governments help themselves, to your bank account & fruits of your labor.
Some might say this is…exclusionary. Biden said he’d go, idk, maybe he just forgot. Hard as that may be to believe. Even worse are the people who openly say, “East Palestine is conservative, they probably voted for Trump, they don’t deserve aid/let them die/etc”. Truly despicable talk, un-American & partisan.
Idk man, I don’t claim to know everything. But look, I brought some receipts. Just some things for you all to think about. Please know, the government is not your friend.
I don’t think anyone thinks the government is our friend. I don’t know why that matters though. A company isn’t my friend either. When the options for things getting done are between a company (who’s motivation is supposed to be profit) and the government (who’s motivation is supposed to be good), I’ll take the government.
Joe Biden is a neo-liberal conservative old school politician. I don’t like him, and I don’t know anyone who does. He has been fairly effective for getting some good done though. I wish he’d speak out more and push for doing more good, but he’s done better than I expected from him (which is basically nothing, except not causing more damage like the last guy), because he’s got some progressive support behind him pushing for more leftist things.
We don’t need the government to be our friend. We need it to do what’s needed for the most good per dollar. I don’t think that should just be internal either, because humans are humans no matter where they live. I don’t really value “American”. I don’t think being born on this piece of dirt makes you any more important than someone born on some other piece of dirt.
Also, the military spending in Ukraine is mostly not money, it’s value. It’s the value of weapons that were already built and built for the purpose of fighting Russia and China at the same time potentially. Them being used to fight Russia is literally the most effective thing they could do, and what they were designed for. Russia being weaker means we need to have less stockpiled. If they weren’t sent over, they’d just be sitting in storage somewhere not being used. We aren’t sending cash for the most part.
Country music used to have themes like that, or simply be fun. “Down on the Farm” is catchy, fun, most can relate.
Reba sang… Fuck it, I’m done. There were some greats that sang about our common experiences, with a rural twist. Hell, even Garth is getting his ass beat for being inclusive.
If you leave mainstream, radio country even just a little, it becomes apparent that progressive gays are taking over country and Americana. If there are people and places in your life that need country music, bring S.G. Goodman, Melissa Carper, Orville Peck, Iris Marlowe, and none of these people have what I would call a niche sound. (I don’t expect to convert anyone to the cult of Little Mazarn, but that’s maybe my favorite country act.) And some of them are blowing up! They’re making country music for me these days, and I fucking love it. It’s all I listen to lately. Folk, country, and Americana are for everyone.
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