What exactly is a ‘small’ town?

Song sung by Jason Aldean but written by four other guys makes me wonder, what do they mean by a ‘small’ town?

Another controversy should be bubbling over the hit song sung by country singer Jason Aldean, “Try That in a Small Town”: What do the four songwriters (Mr. Aldean did not write the song) mean by a small town?

I grew up in what I consider to be a small town. Marshfield, Wis., which had a population of about 18,000 in 1980, when I was 11 years old. That’s a small town, I’d say, wouldn’t you? Or is the town of Bisbee, Ariz., near where I live, whose population is about 5,000, is that a small town? Or is Tombstone, Ariz., also near where I live, a small town? Its population is about 1,300. Or is Sierra Vista, Ariz., where I currently live, is that a small town? Our population is about 45,000.

Now, the single “Try That in a Small Town” has become quite popular for various reasons. There’s controversy swirling all around it. I am not going to step too far in the middle of the objections raised over the song or the video. Other folks can give better commentary on that than me. I’m going to sidestep the issue of the boycott of CMT by fans of Mr. Aldean because the channel took the video off the air because of the firestorm around the song. Maybe another time. My objection is more basic than that: What is their definition of a small town? And do any of them have any experience living in a small town?

Now Mr. Aldean grew up in Macon, Ga., population of more than 157,000. To me, as someone who grew up in what I would call a small town, that would be a big town. Mr. Aldean sings the song “Try That in a Small Town,” but he did not write it. So, he performs a song about a small town. But it does not appear that he grew up in one.

Two of the guys who actually wrote the song were born in small towns, and one guy grew up in a village with a population of 600 in upstate New York. That’s a small town. The other guy was born in Paducah, Ky., but grew up in a town attached to Chattanooga, Tenn. Is a suburb of a sizable city a small town? I kind of think not. But that’s just me. Chattanooga has more than 180,000 residents. That’s not a small town. And the metropolitan area of Chattanooga has more than 560,000 residents! That’s not small at all! I didn’t Chattanooga was that big.

Now based on that information, it appears that one person involved in the writing of the song has a solid experience of living in a small town and what small-town values might be. The other guy grew up in a suburb of a big town, I would say.

The other two guys who wrote the song are from Des Moines, Iowa, and Birmingham, Ala. Neither of those are small towns. But maybe they have a different idea of what a small town is. It’s hard to say. But I don’t think anyone would argue that Des Moines or Birmingham are small towns. Unless you’re from New York City or Los Angeles.

So, it seems as if only one guy in the songwriting team (remember, Mr. Aldean just sings it) has extensive experience living in a small town. That guy landed in Nashville while on his way to Los Angeles when he was 21, according to Musicradar.

From the performer to the songwriters, that is not a lot of street cred for small-town living.

Mr. Aldean wrote on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) that the song “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.”

OK, that’s fine. That’s nice. However, it seems that the implication from the song then is that only people in a small town know how to take care of neighbors. But growing up in Macon, Ga.? A small town? How would he know that, exactly? And does he know that people in cities don’t take care of their neighbors? Is that true? Do the rest of the songwriters think that? I’m just asking questions.

Mr. Aldean’s post on X continues: “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.”

First, let’s all stop capitalizing words that should not be capitalized. Country is not a proper name, and it should not be capitalized. United States is a proper name. It should be capitalized. It’s a nice sentiment, to get back to a sense of normalcy in the country. But is singing a song making people in cities and cities themselves seem evil and scary a way to foster normalcy? I lived in Chicago for 16 years and I was never a victim of a crime there. I was not sucker punched on a sidewalk, I was never in a store that got robbed. When I went to a small town, I was never looking for a fight, as the lyrics in the song go. It seems like this was a sentiment they knew would strike a chord with part of the population that feels shunned and left out of the United States.

And I suspect all these guys are laughing all the way to the National Bank of Sowing Division.