Jason Aldean’s latest release is a limited assessment, depicting a young woman who’s a product of the countrier-than-thou generation. No artist in recent memory has bludgeoned the audience with so many country-to-the-core songs. Ironically, the ’80s rock template that Aldean regularly employs is contradictory to the very messages that he sends in his hillbilly romps. He displays a musical attitude that betrays no hint of the history laid out by the likes of Jennings and Jones. (Imagine the Man in Black blasting out to “Johnny Cash.”)
The lead single from Jason Aldean’s third album, “She’s Country” is troubling in its content right from the titular phrase. Aldean’s valentine to a “crazy mother trucker” is a guitar-driven, cliche-laden number. She’s country “from her cowboy boots to her down home roots,” embracing her role as a slightly rebellious, yet wholly religious young woman. Her portrayal adds to the pigeonholing of women in the genre, declarations of dependence that describe members of the fairer sex as purely secondary characters. It’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world, solidified by such lyrics as:
Honey drippin’ honey from the holler in Kentucky
Getcha flippin’ kinda trippie like a Mississippi hippie
A hell raisin’ sugar when the sun goes down
Mama taught her how to rip up a town
“She’s Country” is jam-packed with justifications for this rebel child’s country-ness. It suggests that rural-route societies fear identity theft, with Aldean making a point of cramming hicks-from-the-sticks vocabulary into every corner of the rapid-fire rocker. “She’s Country” reverts back to the narrow stereotypes that more mainstream-minded Nashville insiders have tried to avoid, while also sticking to a musical pattern that recalls Cheap Trick instead of Charley Pride.
Aldean’s music clearly connects to the widening scope of country fans, and casual listeners will enjoy the tunefulness of his latest release. But self-expression has been sacrificed for self-explanation on a song that yields few desirable returns.
Grade: C-
Buy: She’s Country
Meh. I really wish Nashville would get over these kinds of songs, and fast. It’s the same song, whether you call it ‘Play Something Country’, ‘International Harvester’, ‘Country Man’, or ‘Where I’m From’. Crapola.
ITA! (see my “pet peeve” list)
This declaring oneself “country” trend really has to stop, because it lost all credibility a long time ago (IMHO).
I am a Kentuckian by way of California and my wife was born and raised here. She grew up working on her dad’s tobacco farm. She HATES this song! She once said, “Just what makes a prayer “country” anyhow?” This review is right on, though I find the music itself rather catchy.
I love Jason Aldean, all his songs ROCK!!!
I wish Jason Aldean would just go away. His “oh-so-country” lyrics are constantly adulterated with violent arena-rock overtones, and he doesn’t even have that great of a voice. “She’s Country” is a classic example of everything that’s wrong with Jason, and with modern-day country music.
@Erik – I couldn’t have said it better myself. These statements have indeed lost all credibility by now.
@Nikki – You’re right – Jason’s songs sure do rock. But that’s exactly why I DON’T like him.
Hmm is it just me? or did this become the MOST PLAYED SONG OF 2009???..yup, I believe it did..ALOT of us must exist!
BOO-YAH BABY!…AND PROUD OF IT!!
Just shows the sad state of country radio in 2009.
sighs…… i gotta keep backing up jason. this song was the most played country single of 2009. his rock infused country is amazing
I agree, Josh.
Pleassse people – if you don’t like it turn the station. Personally I like it and you can kiss my grits! Most played song! Majority rules!
I LOVE JASON…..ALL U H8RS NEED 2 GET OFF THE BAND WAGON IF ALL UR GONNA DO IS BASH HIM……
Jason Aldean rocks…. turn the station if you don’t like it. Being jealous of someone doesn’t give U the right to HATE!!!!!
After hearing this on the radio the other day for the first time in a while, I realized how incredibly bad it is. And I mean stunningly, jaw-droppingly bad. Did anyone else notice that he’s not even singing about the same girl throughout the song? She’s from South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Kansas, all in the first two verses! How ridiculous is that? He’s just pandering to as wide of an audience as he possibly can, and people actually buy into it. Country music is getting dumbed down to the point where lyrics don’t even matter anymore.