The lyrics … don’t match up w/ the truly small towns in my neck of the woods. First, most small towns near me don’t have a traffic light? That’s the suburbs. Also no one would rob a liquor store in a small town near me because there are no free-standing liquor stores. There are more bars and churches vs free-standing shops. And many of the small towns near me don’t have sidewalks. There is just the dirt or grass that’s not the road. Admittedly, I do not live in the south. But still, the song still reads like a bunch of city and suburb guys writing about places that they would never be caught dead living in.
Right on the mark. There's lots on the internet about this song, including how the vast majority of the "rioting" was taken from overseas and stock footage/photos. Stirring up people for no reason other than to make money. (Insert bad words and eyeroll here)
Thank you for the thorough examination of this artist's song and a thoughtful and non-biased fact filled response. Like Kid Rock, Aldean does not come from humble beginnings and has no business pretending otherwise. More maddening to me is the hypocrisy exhibited by the Right who are supporting this artist/song and opining about "cancel culture" while simultaneously promoting and organizing book bans which celebrate people of color, LGBTQ, and others who continue to face discrimination. CMT was correct in removing it from their rotation
“ I’ve been listening to country music all my life, and I gotta say that Mr. Aldean’s latest single sounds as though ChatGPT were asked to write an excessively generic bro country song sung by a white nationalist and this is what we got.” Best description I’ve read so far.
I always think of Steve Goodman and the perfect formula for a country song::
I was drunk the day my mama got out of prison / And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in the pickup truck / She got ran over by a damned old train.
I'm with you on the 1990s country music, mostly because people like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson were smart enough to pay attention to those who came before them, and they cared about what their songs said; they weren't in it for the clickbait rage. There are many reasons to live in a small town, but "we protect you from the Big Bad Outside World.... if you conform" shouldn't be one of them.
["You Never Even Call Me By My Name", as sung by David Allen Coe]
Jason Aldean is a Southern Prepy-Boi White Nationalist POS! He truly panders to the MAGA-MAGGOTS of the Right-Wing Haters! He’s no big Country Music star, he’s a no talent wannabe trying to ride the Coattails of the truly Great Country music artists! I’ve lived in a Small Town, Gooding Idaho, and he wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes there because of his bigotry! Unfortunately the Right doesn’t care about anything but hate and power, so he fits in perfectly with their vile messaging!
“So, essentially, with Mr. Aldean, what we have here is a prep school dilettante who was raised in a big city, singing a song he didn’t write about an experience he never had, accompanied with a music video of which much of the footage was filmed in Canada.” This is an amazing summation.
"He’s trying to pander to a specific feeling of a particular demographic that happily codes their bigotry with information shortcuts." Touché!
Sadly, there is a growing list of people who are triggering for me. Add Aldean to the list. I cannot imagine that he was unaware of the historical significance of the Maury County Courthouse in Nashville, TN. All that you have mentioned are reasons to make sure I never listen to a song of his (as in including footage from protests in other countries!) Thank you Charlotte for, as always, managing to eloquently describe so many thoughts that I am having.
You are my favorite web author - definitely also my favorite author of this period in history. Thank you for bringing another pop culture moment to the stage in its true light. I hope this will reach many more.
The lyrics … don’t match up w/ the truly small towns in my neck of the woods. First, most small towns near me don’t have a traffic light? That’s the suburbs. Also no one would rob a liquor store in a small town near me because there are no free-standing liquor stores. There are more bars and churches vs free-standing shops. And many of the small towns near me don’t have sidewalks. There is just the dirt or grass that’s not the road. Admittedly, I do not live in the south. But still, the song still reads like a bunch of city and suburb guys writing about places that they would never be caught dead living in.
Right on the mark. There's lots on the internet about this song, including how the vast majority of the "rioting" was taken from overseas and stock footage/photos. Stirring up people for no reason other than to make money. (Insert bad words and eyeroll here)
Thank you for the thorough examination of this artist's song and a thoughtful and non-biased fact filled response. Like Kid Rock, Aldean does not come from humble beginnings and has no business pretending otherwise. More maddening to me is the hypocrisy exhibited by the Right who are supporting this artist/song and opining about "cancel culture" while simultaneously promoting and organizing book bans which celebrate people of color, LGBTQ, and others who continue to face discrimination. CMT was correct in removing it from their rotation
“ I’ve been listening to country music all my life, and I gotta say that Mr. Aldean’s latest single sounds as though ChatGPT were asked to write an excessively generic bro country song sung by a white nationalist and this is what we got.” Best description I’ve read so far.
I always think of Steve Goodman and the perfect formula for a country song::
I was drunk the day my mama got out of prison / And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in the pickup truck / She got ran over by a damned old train.
I'm with you on the 1990s country music, mostly because people like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson were smart enough to pay attention to those who came before them, and they cared about what their songs said; they weren't in it for the clickbait rage. There are many reasons to live in a small town, but "we protect you from the Big Bad Outside World.... if you conform" shouldn't be one of them.
["You Never Even Call Me By My Name", as sung by David Allen Coe]
Jason Aldean is a Southern Prepy-Boi White Nationalist POS! He truly panders to the MAGA-MAGGOTS of the Right-Wing Haters! He’s no big Country Music star, he’s a no talent wannabe trying to ride the Coattails of the truly Great Country music artists! I’ve lived in a Small Town, Gooding Idaho, and he wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes there because of his bigotry! Unfortunately the Right doesn’t care about anything but hate and power, so he fits in perfectly with their vile messaging!
“So, essentially, with Mr. Aldean, what we have here is a prep school dilettante who was raised in a big city, singing a song he didn’t write about an experience he never had, accompanied with a music video of which much of the footage was filmed in Canada.” This is an amazing summation.
"He’s trying to pander to a specific feeling of a particular demographic that happily codes their bigotry with information shortcuts." Touché!
Sadly, there is a growing list of people who are triggering for me. Add Aldean to the list. I cannot imagine that he was unaware of the historical significance of the Maury County Courthouse in Nashville, TN. All that you have mentioned are reasons to make sure I never listen to a song of his (as in including footage from protests in other countries!) Thank you Charlotte for, as always, managing to eloquently describe so many thoughts that I am having.
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/05/america-a-nation-of-small-towns.html
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments but I think your stats are off.
Quite poignant, Charlotte. Thank you.
Loved this! Also, I think you (and fellow readers) would dig this facebook post that a friend shared this morning: https://www.facebook.com/markedmelungeon/posts/pfbid02qPTHZQDGHeJJVjsnE69qLf3ttL1RDmdZWauMK3vWYnjA1FumHvmm7y73ikDxcz8Ql
You are my favorite web author - definitely also my favorite author of this period in history. Thank you for bringing another pop culture moment to the stage in its true light. I hope this will reach many more.
Love this.
Amen.