Jason Aldean stirred up trouble with his song “Try That in a Small Town,” causing protests outside of his concert in Chicago. The song got many people’s blood boiling, with more than 20 members of the Revolution Club of Chicago– a group of self-described “revolutionary commies”, showed up to his concert at Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, to protest outside.
The Protest
“Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ isn’t just a racist lynching anthem, it’s a call to fascist civil war,” Leo Pargo, one of the group’s leaders, said in a statement.
“Aldean has said people who burn the American flag should ‘Try That in a Small Town’ and ‘see how far you make it down the road.’ We accepted the challenge, Jason! We burned that rag right outside your concert… AND we’ll do it again. We lit the American flag on fire because this country has only ever stood for slavery, genocide, and war,” the statement read.
The group filmed footage of their protest. It was later shared on X. It showed one organization member, Rafael Kadaris, shouting, “Guess what Jason? We will try that in a small town. We will try that in a big city. And we will try it right in front of your concert.
One protestor carried a banner that read, “No more lynch mobs in and out of uniform.”
At the end of the video, Pargo was seen burning an American flag.
The police eventually came and broke up the protest, calling it unlawful because the gang was disturbing the peace. The group disbursed shortly afterward. No arrests were made.
About the Revolution Club
The Revolution Club’s official declaration states that it believes the “existing capitalist-imperialist system and institutions of government in this country must be abolished and dismantled and replaced by a new, socialist system based on the constitution for the new socialist republic in North America.”
Pargo later stated that the protest defended free speech. He also claimed that Americans “have been lied to about communism”.
About the Song
Aldean’s song received backlash due to its subject matter. Its music video features footage from protests, break-ins, and interactions between civilians and lawmakers. It shows Aldean and his crew playing in front of the site of notorious lynching.
The country singer responded to allegations that the song is racially charged as “dangerous” and “meritless”.
“There is not a single lyric in that 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 interpretations of a song with music, this one goes too far,” Aldean responded in a tweet.
The lyrics for the song are as follows:
“Got a gun that my grandad gave me,
They say one day they’re gonna round up,
Well, that s*** might fly in the city, Good luck,
Well try that in a small town,
See how far you make it down the road,
Around here, we take care of our own.”
The video was removed from the country music video channel CMT following the controversy.
“As Tennessee lawmakers, we should condemn Jason Aldean’s heinous song calling for racist violence,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Justin Jones.
Sheryl Crow also spoke out against the song tweeting, “There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence.”