Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like
Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re tough
Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town
Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they’re gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck
Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town
Full of good ol’ boys, raised up right
If you’re looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town
Ooh-ooh
Try that in a small town…
Suddenly, a fairly standard issue Country Western anthem released in May by a singer I had never heard of is a battleground in the culture wars. I’ve listened to it several times now. Woke Central Command apparently put out a memo declaring that the song is an existential threat to democracy, or something, and the mainstream media has rallied to the cause. State Representative Justin Jones of Tennessee (Guess which party!) condemned the song on Twitter, describing it as a “heinous song calling for racist violence” that promoted “a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism.” The Washington Post, incredibly, has published six op-eds attacking it in hysterical terms. The song is a call for lynchings! It’s advocating vigilantism! Major Tipton would like a word…
For heaven’s sake: the song is an unsubtle paean to traditional values, individual rights, respect for the law, and community harmony, while impugning the priorities and values of urban centers. That’s all. It’s hardly an unusual theme for a Country Western song. Far more significant than the song is the extreme reaction to it on the ideological Left. The song’s sentiments represent a threat to Woke World’s mandatory conformity with the progressive agenda, so the song itself must be censored, canceled, wiped out of public consciousness.
These people are getting desperate.
Have none of these furious propagandists heard of the Streisand Effect? Until the Post and its fellow travelers started freaking out, most people had never heard the song or seen the video. I certainly hadn’t; I think most of the Country songs that most recently came to my attention were sung by artists who are now dead.
The main gotcha! that the mainstream media has weaponized is that the music video (which, of course, is not visible when one is just listening to the song on the radio) shows Aldean singing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee where the 1946 Columbia race riot began and where a 1927 mob lynching took place. It’s a “dog whistle,” you see. If so, it’s one of the more obscure ones: how many people look at that courthouse and think, “Hey, isn’t that the site where Henry Choate was lynched?” My guess is that most of the Post writers, maybe all of them, wouldn’t have noticed that historical detail absent the afore-mentioned memo. Never mind, though: the connection was sufficient to make CMT pull the video. The entertainment media, like Big Tech and social media, is such a patsy for censors. Their cowardice is one more threat to freedom of expression, and not a small one.
I will say that it was careless and stupid for the the producers of the video to use that locale. They defended their choice by releasing a statement that the courthouse was a picturesque site that has been frequently used in other videos without criticism, but it doesn’t matter. Branding anything progressives want suppressed and smeared as racist should be an expected tactic by now. These people are vicious and without restraints, scruples or ethics alarms. If “Oops, I never considered that!” is going to be your best response to a below-the-belt attack, I would recommend staying out of the culture wars.
Now the Left’s Big Lie strategy is working as planned: Aldean felt forced to defend his song from the accusations of racism and encouraging violence. He wrote in a statement, undoubtedly penned by a PR pro, and pretty well, I must say,
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. As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that’s a more credible interpretation of the song than a “heinous song calling for racist violence” that promotes “a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism.”
A few additional points:
- This is a conformation bias classic. The Left assumes all those country red necks are racist deplorables, and that’s that.
- It is remarkable that at a time when the George Floyd riots led to big cities backing off law enforcement, with San Francisco, among others, now being plagued by soaring car thefts and smash-and-grab shoplifting to such an extent that large chains are fleeing, that the obvious message of the song wouldn’t be accepted, even by the mainstream media, as, if not benign, at least understandable.
- Rhetorical question: what does it say about the punditry class that this song, of all the many juvenile, sophomoric, hysterical politically-themed songs of the past 75 years or so, would trigger such a furious backlash? Not the Marxist foolishness of “Imagine,” not the infantile doomsaying of “Eve of Destruction,” but “Try That In A Small Town”?
You can read the various Post screeds here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Ethics Alarms 
It seems their problem is with his criticism of “Carjack[ing] an old lady at a red light” and not “Stomp[ing] on the flag and light it up”.
I have noticed for over twenty years, a large faction that actually comes to the defense of violent crime, far beyond merely defending their constitutionally guaranteed rights.
“It seems their problem is with his criticism of “Carjack[ing] an old lady at a red light” and not “Stomp[ing] on the flag and light it up”.”
What makes it seem that way to you?
By observing the excuses that they make for violent cvriminals.
The thing about dog whistles is that, if you’re the only one who can hear them, you’re the dog.
So, we can safely assume any mention of car jackers is a reference to black kids? It reminds me of the assumption Terry McAuliffe made that all convicted felons vote Democrat.
Aside from the line about spitting in a cop’s face, which falls in line with the illegal acts rightfully condemned in the first verse, everything in the second verse of the song refers to protected speech (“cuss out a cop,” “stomp on a flag and light it up”). This is followed directly by the chorus: “Well, try that in a small town/see how far ya make it down the road.” This does in fact seem to be threatening people that if they express their constitutional rights in a small town in a way that doesn’t comport with Jason Aldean’s interpretation of small town values, they will be hunted down and subjected to some sort of physical violence. I don’t think that necessarily justifies wall-to-wall coverage of the song, and it isn’t inherently “racist,” but it sure does suck, and represents an interpretation of American values that I’m happy to not share with Jason Aldean.
But, as you know, song lyrics are not to be taken literally, and the “threat” is not a true threat by any definition. Try it, and you will be shunned. Try it, and you will be unpopular. There is nothing inappropriate about a community broadcasting the values that one should respect law enforcement and the American flag. “Small towns don’t appreciate assholes” is a legitimate message. And true, no?
I hope I didn’t indicate I view it as a true threat in the legal sense. But I also don’t think it’s talking just about shunning. The message I get from it is that it’s good to beat up flag protesters and people who cuss out cops (and whether the latter makes one an “asshole” depends a lot on the circumstance, IMO). I don’t share that value and I think it, and the song in general, makes a small-minded parody of small town Americans, of which I count myself among. I don’t think you can blame the critics for engaging in stereotyping when the song is nothing but simple stereotypes.
You have to be engaging in hard confirmation bias to jump to the song’s lyrics threatening anyone with a beating. “Try it and see what happens” is a warning, but it only suggests violence to those who think the singer is speaking for thugs. I dislike the song’s tone, but tone is not justification for turning a coarse song into some sort of sinister plot to crush minorities and dissent.
You see the first seven lines as being separated into two groups (as they are displayed above). On Aldean’s web site, the first seven are all together so that the chorus refers to the whole group of free speech and criminal actions described in those lines. Perfect setup for confirmation bias, eh? The video as well makes it clear that there is much more than just free speech involved.
Masked Avenger wrote, “…it sure does suck, and represents an interpretation of American values that I’m happy to not share with Jason Aldean.”
That statement is signature significant* in my eyes and tells me everything I need to know about your character and your priorities as a fellow human being in our civil society.
*Signature Significance: Signature significance posits that a single act can be so remarkable that it has predictive and analytical value, and should not be dismissed as statistically insignificant. SOURCE
It tells you that I think it’s bad to threaten people that if they express their constitutional rights in a small town in a way that doesn’t comport with Jason Aldean’s interpretation of small town values, they will be hunted down and subjected to some sort of physical violence.
Are you saying that it’s bad for me to feel this way? If so, why?
No Masked Avenger, it tells me that you don’t know a damn thing about the kind of respect that was talked about in the song and that’s a complete failure on the part of your parents and the culture you were raised in.
I was hoping for an actual rebuttal, not another broad attack on my character.
But I trust objective observers to look at this exchange and determine which of us was more disrespectful to the other.
By way of rebuttal, why do you choose to see the first seven lines as a groups of four and three, with the chorus only referring to the three and not to all seven? If you listen, if you watch the video, you will hear and see that that separation into four and three is an artificial separation. Regardless, the chorus refers to all seven.
I’m not assuming that. You’re right that the chorus clearly refers to all seven lines. That’s the problem. It conflates criminal behavior which might merit the (obviously implied) ass-whooping with free speech actions that the singer views as disrespectful, and suggests they all merit the same extrajudicial punishment. That’s a terrible, and in my view anti-American, message. It’s intentionally divisive, as any “small town good, city bad” narrative is, but this one is worse than most.
Seriously, how do you get that? It’s not in the song. “You’ll be sorry” is not the same as “We’ll beat the shit out of you.”
Well, that was an obnoxious response, Steve. I expect better from you. Whether Masked Avenger likes the song or not is his business and the interpretation maybe very well be accurate.
This song is awful simply because the lyrics are uninspired, schmaltzy and predictable. The music is boring, which is the problem with modern country music.
jvb
But is it worse than “Achey-Breaky Heart”?
Oh, thanks a helluva lot for reminding me about that stupid song. Some Ethics Alarmist you tu4nee out to be! Nice, I will have that idiocy in my head. All trick in day!!!
jvb
johnburger2013 wrote, “Well, that was an obnoxious response, Steve.”
“Obnoxious”, really?
Support your claim; how was it “obnoxious”?
johnburger2013 wrote, “I expect better from you.”
Firmly inserting tongue in cheek. So sorry I didn’t meet up to your expectations. Please share with me what your unlisted expectations are so I can better focus all my future comments to meet your expectations. Now removing my firmly place tongue in my cheek.
johnburger2013 wrote, “Whether Masked Avenger likes the song or not is his business and the interpretation maybe very well be accurate.”
I don’t care one bit if Masked Avenger likes the song or not, that is not what I wrote about. Did you misunderstand what I was addressing?
Whether I think Masked Avenger doesn’t know a damn thing about the kind of respect that is talked about in the song or not is my business. My interpretation of the quoted section of Masked Avenger’s comment talking about the “American values” (the value is respect) that he is “happy to not share” is accurate whether you like it or not. Maybe you should actually read the section I quoted so you understand what I was addressing before you respond again, Masked Avenger opened himself up to that kind of reply with his open rejection of American values, specifically the value of respect.
johnburger2013 wrote, “This song is awful simply because the lyrics are uninspired, schmaltzy and predictable. The music is boring, which is the problem with modern country music.”
You’re welcome to your opinion of that song and country music as a whole.
It might be wise to just agree to disagree with me on this one because jumping in to defend what might turn out to be a troll might not be the best choice.
I do not disagree with the value of “respect.” I made it very clear what I disagreed with about Aldean’s interpretation of American values. Read my comment again and try to actually rebut what I said, not what you imagined I said. Then read your comments and see if you can figure out why you were called obnoxious.
Masked Avenger wrote, “I do not disagree with the value of “respect.” I made it very clear what I disagreed with about Aldean’s interpretation of American values.”
Interesting claim considering the lyrics of the song that you yourself pointed out.
Let’s look at the lyrics of the song.
“Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk” People don’t do that if they have respect for others.
“Carjack an old lady at a red light” People don’t do that if they have respect for others.
“Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” People don’t do that if they have respect for others.
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face” People don’t do that if they have respect for others.
“Stomp on the flag and light it up” People don’t do that if they have respect for the United States of America.
“Got a gun that my granddad gave me, they say one day they’re gonna round up” People don’t threaten to do that that if they have respect for the Constitution of the United States of America.
The things listed in those lyrics represent people who are completely disrespectful of everything that our culture represents right down to the core of respect. Only a damn fool with an agenda would deny it.
There are no threats in the lyrics whatsoever, period end of discussion on that point. Anyone foolish enough to try to spin the lyrics into absurd claims that the lyrics are a threat is a damn fool. You wrote about American values, well Masked Avenger, the unspoken American value that Aldean was implying was respect. In rural United States of America respect is still held in high regard where in urban United States respect seems to have been flushed down the drain in favor of immaturity, absurdity and unethical rationalizations.
Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean that what you do is right, or respectful.
It is transparently clear that the underlying American value that you openly rejected and that is respect. I checked your rhetoric multiple times before offering my opinion, you might want to check your own rhetoric and reflect on what’s been written to counter your ignorant comments. You’re the one that started this with your ignorant statement rejecting American values but yet I’m the bad guy for pointing out your own failure in recognizing the core American value that you rejected as implied in the song lyrics.
Again, I think any objective observer can look at our comments here and see which one of us has demonstrated the value of respect and which of us haven’t. I’m glad that johnburger sees it.
Wow. You can be awfully nasty little Hobbit when someone challenges you, Steve. Grow up. If you want me to point out where you crossed the line, it’s here: You criticized this person’s parents and their parenting skills. That was uncalled for and vicious.
jvb
johnburger2013 wrote, “Wow. You can be awfully nasty little Hobbit when someone challenges you, Steve. Grow up.”
Nasty?
Little Hobbit?
Oh give me a friggin’ break John. Your unwarranted characterization is way out in left field and reflects back upon yourself.
johnburger2013 wrote, “If you want me to point out where you crossed the line, it’s here: You criticized this person’s parents and their parenting skills. That was uncalled for and vicious.”
I criticized his parents and the culture he was raised as a failure because Masked Avenger’s utter failure to recognize song lyrics about respect and completely rejected that value. People don’t generally reject respect when respect has been a cornerstone in their family and cultural upbringing. You’re welcome to disagree with that if you like, but your not welcome to trash me as an “awfully nasty little Hobbit” needing to grow up because I think respect is a paramount American value and I’m willing to challenge anyone that flushes respect.
johnburger2013 wrote, “That was uncalled for and vicious.”
I think not.
Move on John, you’re loosing this one in a way that can reveal your inner most thinking.
I take issue at exactly the same argument.
The difference is all the dismissive handwaving by the same political faction regarding violations of the exact same constitutional freedoms that should have been protected on social media in the past ten years.
“It’s a private platform, they have the right to suppress speech on the platform as requested by government agents.”
Following that logic, private residents of a small community have extremely wide latitude to tar and feather all kinds of speech, all the way down to cussing in the presence of women and children.
It actually does not follow at all that if a company can ban people from commenting on their website, citizens of a town can commit violence against people for speech they don’t like.
Why would you think that is at all logical?
Again, there is no threat of violence in the song.
WallPhone was much more explicit than the song.
So I guess this means the Post will run op-eds about WallPhone?
Long time reader, I wanted to ask you why you believe the lyrics aren’t threatening at all?
Telling people that their community won’t tolerate rioting and carjacking is hardly an oppressive warning. And it is a song, not a threat. Is it just the flag-burning that has triggered everyone? My father was a great believer in freedom of speech—that’s why he fought Hitler in Europe and had half his foot blown off. But I wouldn’t have recommended that anyone try burning an American flag around him. It it threatening to say that?
Well let’s just start with this because it’s pointless otherwise…
Do you not think a song can be threatening?
“ But I wouldn’t have recommended that anyone try burning an American flag around him. It it threatening to say that?”
If he were still around, and you said “Try that in front of my father” followed shortly by “see how far you make it down the road,” I would say the intent was to be threatening. What other reason would there be to say this?
Of course it’s a song, and sons aren’t meant to be taken literally. But it does convey a message, and the overall message is menacing.
I don’t see how something that can’t be acted upon, is admittedly fantasy, and simply a rallying cry can be seen as “menacing.” Is it menacing when Red Sox fans chant “Yankees suck”? The guy is a singer, not a movement leader. Chuck Schumer saying “I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions” is menacing and far more offensive, because he’s a leader, not an entertainer. Yet the Post ignored that comment—all the criticism came from conservative pundits.
Why can’t it be acted upon? Why is it a fantasy?
Would you find an anti American chant in the Middle East by Muslims to be threatening?
What about a threatening email from a stranger?
What about a threatening letter from someone on death row?
I don’t see how something being possible or realistic to carry it out less than a threat. A possible danger? Sure. But it’s still a threat.
Well, you can worry about anything, I guess. Someone might fly you to the moon mistaking your intent by singing “Fly Me to the Moon,” speaking of Tony Bennett. But songs are art, and express emotions and ideas for the public’s enjoyment. I think the last song that actually helped trigger violence was “La Marseillaise”
I think part of the problem is that many small towns, especially in the South, have a pretty long history of not letting people “make it down the road” for offending their values, even if they have committed no crime. The song itself may not be a threat, but it alludes to a past that was very threatening for many people, especially people of color and sexual minorities. No wonder people are reading racism into it; even some of your commenters are saying it reminds them of times that scary black people came to town to make trouble.
Small towns employ the tactics of reasonable and appropriate bail to keep violent offenders from repeating their crimes. Small towns do not generally have activist organizations working to protect violent felons at the expense of the majority that do not engage in violence. Why is that not to obvious message? Perhaps because those who wish to see violence in words of the non violent are trying to rationalize their willingness to accept it among their peers.
Try it in a small town can mean we will prosecute you and you going to jail for your behavior, hence the courthouse image, and not necessarily vigilantism. Why is it even considered a threat.
Except that the behavior he mentions that I highlighted in my first comment is not illegal and can’t be prosecuted.
There are ethical issues regarding companies banning people from commenting on their web site. In general, it has to do with how the company advertises its commenting platform.
What is controversial is that law enforcement agencies have been telling companies to remove content posted on their platforms.
Funny how when it’s a government official you like, it’s “asking,” but when it’s government officials you don’t like, it’s “telling.”
Unlike the Trump “ask” of Zelensky that you’ve been unsuccessfully defending for several days, the FBI requests weren’t tied to any kind of quid pro quo or pressure. They were requests, of the kind that any citizen can make. They didn’t “tell” social media companies to remove anything. Sometimes these companies took their recommendations, and sometimes they did not. I do think such requests were inappropriate, but not unconstitutional. And conservatives continue to ignore that the Trump administration made similar requests.
Interesting how wokesters give the denigrating, humiliating, hateful, misogynistic rappers a pass.
Why so fixated on this song when rap music is fairly saturated with detailed messages of violence towards women?
Could it be that Aldean is a straight white Christian male and the song has patriotic overtones?
I don’t see how it’s surprising that an overly political song is drawing more political analysis and debate than your average rap song.
It’s drawing more criticism and analysis than any U.S. popular song, ever.
I would like to see your evidence for that claim. It’s not the first song to draw plenty of outraged think pieces—remember WAP?
No. What in tarnation is WAP? In any event, hard to prove a negative. Show me any song that the Post attacked six times in the span of a couple of days.
If that’s the standard, I find it likely that WAP was attacked by Fox News as many times in as short a span, not to mention its coverage in other right-wing media. I’m surprised you missed it.
I still don’t know what “WAP” is, so I’m pretty sure I missed any mass right-wing media assaults on it.
I’m guessing it is a song by Cardi B. (Google-Fu). My better Angels said, don’t bother, but the little devils’s won. I’ll never get the time spent, or electrons involved back
Wet Ass Pussy by Cardi B
Whores in this house
There’s some whores in this house
There’s some whores in this house
There’s some whores in this house (hol’ up)
I said certified freak, seven days a week
Wet ass pussy, make that pullout game weak, woo! (Ah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, you fucking with some wet ass pussy
Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass pussy
Give me everything you got for this wet ass pussy
Beat it up, nigga, catch a charge
Extra large, and extra hard
Put this pussy right in yo’ face
Swipe your nose like a credit card
Hop on top, I want a ride
I do a kegel while it’s inside
Spit in my mouth, look at my eyes
This pussy is wet, come take a dive
….
And so on,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAP_(song)
If “Wet Ass Pussy” is the best comp you can come up with, I’ll take the trophy, thanks. Its not close to a similar episode. Parents, conservatives and religious critics have been complaining about graphic sexual messages and language—and the definition of pornography—for many decades. Arguing over language isn’t like attacking a song’s content and message. No allegedly serious mainstream pundits paid any attention to Cardi B’s filth—that’s the genre. The main critics were Ben Shapiro, who is a right wing gadfly and who has to bitch about something, and two minor conservative pols trying to pick up votes. That’s hardly six op-eds in the Washington Post.
Now I recall hearing about the song (I didn’t know it had initials) and crossing it off my list for commentary because 1) there was nothing intrinsically wrong with the song that didn’t apply to most rap and hip-hop, and 2) it seemed like a very small controversy represented as a big one by far left sites like Mother Jones to mock those square conservatives.
Looking up “WAP song” on the Fox website: https://www.foxnews.com/search-results/search?q=WAP%20song
Some entries focus on the performer’s response to the backlash, others are about the backlash itself, only one critical editorial showed in the first three batches of results.
https://www.foxnews.com/search-results/search?q=WAP%20song
Yeah, it’s not a good comp with this episode at all. Apples and mangos.
You said “It’s drawing more criticism and analysis than any U.S. popular song, ever.” That’s a very broad category, encompassing both “apples” and “mangos.” More than “Baby, it’s Cold Outside?” More than “Fuck da Police?” Maybe, but as you admitted, there’s no way to tell.
Songs become cultural flashpoints for all sorts of reasons. This song is getting so much attention because we are so divided as a country right now. In my view, this song merely exploits that division. That’s what he should apologize for.
If another song has ever attracted such high profile criticism, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a record of it.
Frankly, the song us drawing more attention than it deserves.
jvb
That’s what the Streisand Effect does. What a bonanza for Aldean!
Yep. He is protesting all the way to the bank.
jvb
MA,
You could not have missed my point by a wider margin.
The average rap song is generally overtly political. Almost all rap music contains overt political themes.
Country Western is different.
It’s also a big deal. https://brandongaille.com/46-curious-country-music-demographics/
Hillary Clinton would call this song The Deplorables’ National Anthem.
Jason Aldean doesn’t stand alone…
Apparently a good number of people never heard the late Charlie Daniels sing “Simple Man”. Go look up the lyrics for that…which I sang along with him on the radio about 30 years ago. Better yet, I’ll post them here:
I ain’t nothin’ but a simple man
They call me a redneck I reckon that I am
But there’s things goin’ on that make me mad down to the core
I have to work like a dog to make ends meet
There’s crooked politicians and crime in the street
And I’m madder than hell, and I ain’t a-gonna take it no more
We tell our kids, “Just say no”
And then some panty-waist judge lets a drug dealer go
Slaps him on the wrist and he turns him back out on the town
But if I had my way with people sellin’ dope
Take a big tall tree and a short piece of rope
I’d hang ’em up high and let them swing ’til the sun goes down
[Chorus]
Well, you know what’s wrong with the world today
People done gone and put their Bibles away
They’re livin’ by the law of the jungle, not the law of the land
Well, the Good Book says it so I know it’s the truth
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
You better watch where you go and remember where you been
That’s the way I see it, I’m a simple man
Now I’m the kinda man who wouldn’t harm a mouse
But if I catch somebody breakin’ in my house
I got a 12-gauge shotgun waitin’ on the other side
So don’t go pushin’ me against my will
I don’t want to have to fight you but I dern sure will
If you don’t want trouble then you’d better just pass me on by
As far as I’m concerned, there ain’t no excuse
For the rapin’ and the killin’ and the child abuse
But I’ve got a way to put an end to all that fast
You just take them rascals out in the swamp
Put ’em on their knees and tie ’em to a stump
Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest
[Chorus]
Watch where you go and remember where you been
That’s the way I see it, I’m a simple man
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=an+okie+from+muskogee+youtube&view=detail&mid=BB7DD515A9FB70A262B8BB7DD515A9FB70A262B8&FORM=VIRE
“Bite me” as an art form. A long tradition.
Now there’s an objectively pro-lynching anthem!
Also I’d think a good Christian would know that “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” went out with the advent of the New Testament…
I see it as more of an objectively “get tough on crime and create a punishment that might actually deter the act” anthem, but we can differ in our interpretation.
As for the other, eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth was an Old Testament standard, but it didn’t go away in the New. The times it is mentioned after Exodus 21 refer directly to cases being tried in a court. The point of the standard is equitable justice – not overly excessive and overly light. Charlie Daniel’s lament was that justice was becoming far too lenient. Returning to an Old Testament standard was not (and is not) a bad thing. Calling for the hanging of drug dealers might seem somewhat excessive, but maybe not to parents, relatives, and loved ones of those that have been enslaved, abused, or killed by their actions. Rapists, murderers, and child abusers…? Well, the Old Testament penalty for the first two was death, and regarding child abusers, Jesus himself in the NT indicated it would be better for him/her to have a millstone tied around the neck and be dropped into the sea. Old Charlie was pretty much right on there, albeit a bit more creative in its implementation.
Ok, the New Testament. It’s my opinion that Jesus was not undoing the Old Testament standard, but rather undoing the Pharisees’ extreme legalism in turning it into an everyday method of resolving conflict. The religious leaders had created all kinds of ridiculous rules around eye for an eye – and nearly every other OT law (their rules around what constituted “work” on the Sabbath were outrageous). If a person slapped me with the force of an “8” and I returned the slap with a force of “6”, I could still owe the other person a “2” slap. Stupid stuff like that.
Jesus’ commands to people were to instead love your enemies, turn the other cheek, go the second mile, and give without expecting a return. In our relationships with others, we are to love. The courts are still expected to extract an eye for an eye. We watch the show “Court Cam” – which exposes courtroom proceedings – and occasionally, I see both sides. A victim (or the loved one of a victim) give an impact statement where, instead of expressing hatred of the convicted, he or she will offer genuine forgiveness. But the judge still extracts what he or she sees as justice in the sentencing…giving an eye for an eye.
My apologies to Jack…this is an ethics website, not a Bible-discussion site. I’ve responded, but won’t likely say more about this unless it can be done in a sentence or two.
Objectively pro lynching? Well, sure, if you see the song as prescriptive. But, more like a wake-up call if you see it as descriptive. Just as in Aldean’s song, Daniels could be simply stating what could happen when government does not fulfill one of its basic responsibilities, providing for the safety of the people.
What did Mohammed Atta think of the New Testament?
What chapter and verse tells people to hijack passenger airliners and crash them into skyscrapers.
You can’t see the forest for the trees. The song is about self defense and not being a pushover for those willing to bring harm to him or his family. Lynching involves PROACTIVELY initiating violence. If lamenting the fact that we have a revolving door in our criminal Justice system and that if he had his way he would be far more punishing is pro lynching then every person demanding Justice for so and so is also pro lynching.
You make an issue of denying free speech in Aldean’s song but I suspect you would also not support the burning of a cross on private lands as a free speech issue. Instead you will claim it is threatening as you implied in the song in question. Why is burning a flag any less threatening than burning a cross. Would you say those in Charlottesville who had the demonstration permit were denied free speech by the mob that came out to counter protest? If you cannot stand up for free speech for all then you cannot use it selectively. It does not work that way
Your suspicion is wrong. I would argue that cross-burning on private property is protected by the first amendment. Others, such as Clarence Thomas, disagree. This isn’t an issue that falls clearly along partisan lines.
As for why cross-burning might be considered more threatening than flag-burning, simple: the former is more associated with terroristic violence than the latter. Flag-burning protesters usually stopped there, while cross-burners often escalated to lynchings.
This song maybe the only song employing the time-honored slight “pantry waist” but, that’s our Charlie.
jvb
I don’t really care what was used as the backdrop, I doubt there is ANYHERE that would have been acceptable. Th hilarious part is the whole “hate speech” vs the 1st amendment and comparing it to Rap…i am definiely at the point where I have a hard time even caring what teh Woke are Streisanding about anymore
If you ever create a “Bite Me” HOF this guy is in it for his response.
I never heard of him and am not a fan of country or whatever they call it now, but if is a woke trigger count me in.
Jack,
“Not the Marxist foolishness of ‘Imagine,’ not the infantile doomsaying of ‘Eve of Destruction,'”
For someone who claims to love music so much, you have a strange habit of attacking popular songs over perceived issues with their content. Imagine has some cool drum work and a haunting piano. The music can be separated from the message. Besides, such music becomes popular because it connects to people and makes them feel good … why spoil that? If you don’t like it, don’t listen. If it brings others happiness, why care?
Lennon’s (long) dead. McGuire will be soon. Both songs are now over 50 years old. Let it go.
Art is forever, Neil. And those songs are 99% political statements, not musical expression, like almost all of Dylan’s songs. “Destruction” is idiotic and was at the time, the Hippie peacenik sentiment at its dumbest. “Imagine” is at least as frequently heard now as in the seventies. It’s not exactly “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”…
It’s just a domestic successor to Toby Keith’s famous post 9/11 anthem “Brought To You Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (the Angry American).”
American girls and American guys
We’ll always stand up and salute
We’ll always recognize
When we see Old Glory flying
There’s a lot of men dead
So we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our head…
My daddy served in the army
Where he lost his right eye but he flew a flag out in our yard
Until the day that he died
He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me
To grow up and live happy
In the land of the free.
Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack
A mighty sucker punch came flyin’ in from somewhere in the back
Soon as we could see clearly
Through our big black eye
Man, we lit up your world
Like the fourth of July!🎇
Hey Uncle Sam, put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty started shakin’ her fist
And the eagle will fly man, it’s gonna be hell
When you hear mother freedom start ringin’ her bell
And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you
Brought to you courtesy of the red white and blue!🇺🇲
Justice will be served and the battle will rage
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
And you’ll be sorry that you messed with
The U.S. of A…
‘Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass
It’s the American way!
Hey uncle sam put your name at the top of his list
And the Statue of Liberty started shakin’ her fist 🗽
And the eagle 🦅 will fly it’s gonna be hell
When you hear mother freedom start ringin’ her bell 🔔
And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you
Brought to you courtesy of the red white and blue! 🇺🇲
Oh oh of the red, white and blue!
Oh oh of my red, white and blue!
Now that’s what you call a patriotic country anthem. Lefty’s whine about that one 20 plus years ago, and of course now they’re whining about this one.