Try That in a Small Mind

Jason Aldean's new song finally got the best of my curiosity. So I went a Googlin'. 

Aldean sings about life in a small town, an experience he didn't have growing up in the not-small city of Macon, Georgia. I'm not mad about that part. People like me get paid to be poseurs every day. Like today: I'm writing about private equity investing, even though not a dime of my vast freelance writer wealth has been invested in anything other than survival, miracle wrinkle creams, and vicious-breed dogs. 

"Try That in a Small Town" is the typical uninspired song on today's mainstream country radio, a product of four songwriters (not including Aldean) who may or may not be from small towns. I can't fathom why it took four minds to create lyrics that sound like a drunken conversation at a bar named after somebody’s grandpappy, but I salute them for turning it into a paycheck. On that note, if anyone in Nashville is reading: I’m available to write songs too. While I don’t do “aggro Americana,” my bag of tricks is otherwise full.  

Like Hamburger Helper, "Try That in a Small Town" is great when you want to consume something that resembles the real thing but is faster, easier, and requires no thought. It will also make your insides angry, but you'll blame that on something else. Probably a liberal politician or the gays, since both are clearly the worst thing to happen to the American family since heterosexual divorce, addiction, and fatherless homes. 

The song is a battle cry for people who "take care of their own,” a notion inextricable from any discussion of small-town life. Having grown up in a small town in North Central West Virginia, I’d like to set the record straight: That’s not how it works. People in small towns don’t take care of their own any better than people in big cities. Some do it well. Others do harm. 

The song also perpetuates the idea that people in small towns are unsophisticated, insular, and aggressive. For regions like Appalachia that already struggle with negative outside perceptions, this is both troublesome and accurate. Those qualities do accompany a tribalism particular to Appalachian culture, alongside its more alluring offerings like natural beauty, talented artisans, rich culinary traditions, a slower pace of life, and a lack of elitism. I held a similar position when JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy set liberals into a frenzy. While it’s debatable if his story is a reflection of his actual life experience, his depiction of Appalachia rings true. And what if we embrace it? It’s okay for Appalachians to own their tribalism the same way it’s okay for big-city dwellers to own their elitism. Both perceptions are based in reality and neither speaks to the fullness of the individuals who inhabit those places.   

“Try That in a Small Town” was predestined for success. There’s no such thing as bad press when you’re hyping up the culture wars. As for the allegations surrounding the song, I’m comfortable making just one claim: Jason Aldean is fully on board with its combative tone, or he wouldn’t have agreed to sing it. Since I’m not a fan of today’s angry patriotism or of mainstream country music in general, my solution is to continue not listening to Jason Aldean’s entire opus. 

While I could take pleasure in assuming what kind of guy Jason Aldean is according to where he spent New Year’s Eves or how he wears boot-cut jeans, in real life I don’t draw those lines. Okay, I will judge you if you’re a guy who buys jeans at Buckle. Not sorry. But at least I can be reasonable on matters of more importance. Some of my dearest friends and family voted for That Guy, and we didn’t break up over it. Life is complicated. So is art (or in Aldean’s case, performance).