What's The Real Meaning Behind Try That In A Small Town By Jason Aldean? Here's What We Think

Country superstar Jason Aldean has had multiple hits throughout his career, including "You Make It Easy," "Dirty Road Anthem," and "She's Country," but none more controversial than "Try That In A Small Town," a single he released in May 2023 as part of a forthcoming album. While it didn't generate a ton of headlines upon the first release, the track's accompanying music video, which was dropped in July 2023, became the primary catalyst for outrage — so much so that the Country Music Television (CMT) pulled it out of its rotation, and Aldean's team had been forced to do some re-editing to alleviate the controversy.

Apart from the song's divisive lyrics (more on this later), many took issue with the imagery presented in the music video. Some scenes were filmed at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a black teenager named Henry Choate was lynched back in 1927. It was also the site of the 1946 Columbia race riot. What's more, interspersed between Aldean and his band performing the song are multiple clips of news footage featuring protests and riots across the country, including Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Fans then accused Aldean of "dog-whistling to racists," and some went as far as to call his work "pro-lynching."

Meanwhile, Variety referred to the track as the "most contemptible country song of the decade," and some of Aldean's fellow country stars, like Sheryl Crow, couldn't help but share disappointment. "There's nothing small-town or American about promoting violence," she tweeted.

At first listen, Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" comes across as harmless, but that's if you don't read between the lines. In the song, he croons about a couple of antics that city dwellers can't get away with in a small town. "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," the lyrics read. "Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you're tough."

The song then transitions to a threatening message that implies that these crimes will result in severe consequences in a small town because people there look out for each other. "Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road," the song continued. "Around 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." It even suggested that small-town folk won't hesitate to resort to violence and included pro-gun language. "Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they're gonna round up/ Well that s**t might fly in the city / Good luck." He closes the song by saying people shouldn't dare mess with country folks. "Full of good ol' boys raised up right, if you're looking for a fight."

The lyrics to "Try That In A Small Town" already raised some brows when it first came out, but when the music video dropped and contextualized the track even further, people couldn't help but wonder if its racist undertones were intentional. During its release in May, Jason Aldean shared on "The Bobby Bones Show" that the track, which was produced by Michael Knox and written by Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, Kelley Lovelace, and Neil Thrasher, resonated with him at a deeper level, prompting him to include it in his upcoming album.

"I heard the song, and it just kind of explained to me what's going on in the world," he said. "This is just a song that talks about... like you wouldn't get away with that stuff in a small town. It's just a different mindset and different kind of values in small-town America that I wish everybody else would kind of adopt." He also later clapped back at his critics and responded to the controversy via a lengthy tweet. "There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it–– and there isn't a single 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," he noted.

Despite the uproar, his staunchest supporters attempted to push the track to the No. 1 spot in the Billboard Hot 100 through streams and sales. But their efforts fell short, and the song only rose to #2, placing it behind BTS member Jungkook's chart-topping hit "Seven."