Joe Harker
Sheryl Crow has hit out at the song 'Try That In A Small Town', which has drawn a massive backlash against singer Jason Aldean.
The music video for Aldean's song has been taken down after the tune was accused of being a 'pro-lynching song' from the country singer.
Country Music Television pulled the video, which had been filmed at Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where in 1927 Black teenager Henry Choate had been lynched.
There were also accusations that the song and the message of 'Try That In A Small Town' were offensive, something Aldean has denied.
Advert
In the video for the song, the country singer is seen standing in front of the courthouse with an American flag projected behind him while he sings about things he thinks people do in large cities which would apparently be poorly received in small town America.
The smaller towns of the US would apparently never stoop to behaviour such as 'car-jacking an old lady', pulling 'out a gun on the owner of a liquor store' or 'cussing out a cop'.
At least according to Aldean's song, which state Representative of Tennessee Justin Jones called a 'heinous song for racist violence'.
The music video was posted onto YouTube earlier this month where it has gained over eight million views and the footage appeared to show imagery from Black Lives Matter protests.
There's footage of protests, riots and confrontations between police and the public, some of which come from Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
Since the song features lyrics like 'try that in a small town full of good ol’ boys, raised up right if you’re looking for a fight' you might be able to see where the backlash has come from.
One of those who has hit out at the song is Sheryl Crow, who took to Twitter and quoted some of the lyrics of the song in her criticism.
"I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence," she wrote, tagging Aldean into the conversation.
"There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting."
"This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame."
Aldean has responded to the backlash against his song with a statement, which read: "In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests.
"These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.
"There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video 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 claimed the song was instead supposed to be about 'the feeling of a community that I had growing up'.