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Contributed commentary by John Bench of Clarksville on Jason Aldean’s “Try That In a Small Town”:
There has been a lot of controversy over the new Jason Aldean song. From what I have been reading, nothing was being said about the song which was released in May until the video was made. This song, like many, represents the writer’s thoughts. Those thoughts can be interpreted in many different ways. We have had two academics who took to this site to express their views and thoughts, and we have others who have an entirely different take on this song.
Regardless the size of a town, they all have their “warts” – big, medium, small. They all have problems. There is no perfect town anywhere. My interpretation was that small towns, for the most part, are more conservative and try to work and live in harmony. Small towns across this country, for the most part, are forgotten by governments until they want their money and votes. Someone on one of the media outlets had commented about the courthouse in the video being the site of a lynching; until I read their comments, I just thought it was an old courthouse, but someone who is trying to stir up discontent had to dig around to find this. I believe the soul of this song is about respect of one another and your community. I have lived in small, medium and large towns. It has been my experience that, for the most part, small towns are more respectful and caring.
Growing up, my wife was raised in a small community. Her father ran a local grocery store. She has commented over the years how she hated it because everyone knew her and the family, so anything they did got back to her parents. Years later, when we had kids and moved to a small town, and she became known in the community, she liked the idea that if the kids did anything, it usually got back to us before the kids got home. This was just neighbors looking out for neighbors. Respect was a standard.
I see songs from other genres that are much more overtly offensive, and no one makes a big deal about it. If you turn off the video and try to hear the underlying message, you would be better off. We have enough more issues than a song; we need to be looking at them. All this controversy is doing is splitting the country farther apart.
John Bench