'God Bless the USA' songwriter stands up for Jason Aldean amid leftist attacks against 'Try That in a Small Town'

Legendary "God Bless the USA" songwriter Lee Greenwood is standing up for country music star Jason Aldean amid leftist accusations that his chart-topping, anti-crime tune "Try That in a Small Town" and its controversial video are steeped in racism.

"First of all, I'm a Jason Aldean fan," Greenwood told Fox News' Jesse Watters on Thursday night. "And he's the biggest patriot, like a lot of us. This has nothing to do with racism. This is about people trying to take away the freedom of expression. It's a great song — I wish I had it. When it first came out, I was all over that. I love Jason’s approach. Jason Aldean's a great artist, and he always does the right thing."

Greenwood added, "I'm from a small town in California, and you know what? People can't take our freedom away because people know everybody in a small town, and that's what the heart of America is ... rural America. And remember this, you can't take freedom away 'cause I wrote about that."

Image source: Fox News video screenshot

What's the background?

Country Music Television on Monday pulled the video for "Try That in a Small Town" as leftists raged over its anti-crime, anti-woke message. The video shows familiar clips of individuals rioting, beating people up, looting, robbing, and spitting in cops' faces. The song's lyrics challenge such lawless folks to attempt that behavior in a small town, where residents aren't as likely to take it without pushback:

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 you 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.

Here's the video. Content warning: language:

Jason Aldean - Try That In A Small Town (Official Music Video)youtu.be

A Variety music critic penned a hit piece Tuesday titled "Jason Aldean Already Had the Most Contemptible Country Song of the Decade. The Video Is Worse." Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow called the song "lame." Democrat Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones tweeted to his colleagues that "as Tennessee lawmakers, we have an obligation to condemn Jason Aldean’s heinous song calling for racist violence. What a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism."

Aldean on Tuesday took to social media to address the controversy, saying, "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."

What else did Greenwood have to say?

As far as the song's reference to firearm ownership — "Got a gun that my granddad gave me they say one day they're gonna round up. Well, that s**t might fly in the city, good luck ..." — Greenwood told Watters that "I'm a Bible-thumpin', gun-totin' Christian, but when you talk about having guns and having them in your home for defense, it's not about an offensive weapon; it’s about hunting, it's about having the right to have the gun."

Anything else?

As the left spewed venom over "Try That in a Small Town," it has only grown in popularity. In fact, the tune promptly rocketed to the top of the iTunes charts this week while the video saw similar success.

Iconic singer Pat Boone also backed Aldean, telling Watters the night before that leftists' reaction to "Try That in a Small Town" shows they're infected with a "moral sickness."

Fellow country music star Travis Tritt also showed support for Aldean, reminding him that social media does not represent reality and urging him not to cave to pressure from the outrage mob: "Say what you want to say and be who you want to be. Damn the social media torpedoes."

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