Since countering Aldean’s claim the video only contains “real news footage,” Destinee Stark has received a wave of hateful messages from defenders of the song.

  • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    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

    Flag burning is 1st Amendment protected free speech and he is threatening gun violence which is an actual crime.

    • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      You got it wrong.

      The implied threat to use a firearm comes after that, in regards to trying to take the firearm in question, not in regards to the section quoted.

      If you’re going to point out hypocrisy, point to the accurate hypocrisy :)

      • Chaotic Entropy@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        See how far you make it down the road because he has a gun… which he will use as a pointing device to politely direct you elsewhere.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I mean this song is dumb as fuck but the quote is misleading.

          That last line is the start of a second verses focusing on how you can’t take his granpappy’s gun - it’s not part of a continued threat from the first verse

          OP definitely knew this, because the punctuation doesn’t even line up as if it were the end of the verse. This is deliberately misleading, which is weird, because the song is obviously already ridden with shit lines.

          • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            The entire thing is a threat of violence, see all the un-bolded parts. Like literally what is different about a small town in this song which forces people to stop burning flags, except that they will violently prevent you from exercising your first amendment rights?

            Immediately mentioning a gun is specifying gun violence but threatening violence in reaction to free speech in general is illegal and an immoral call for vigilante justice.

          • czech@no.faux.moe
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            1 year ago

            Yes the implied violence and the introduction of grandpas gun are purely coincidental! How misleading of OP!

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              It is misleading. The second verse literally has its own implied threat.

              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

              This is just how songs, paragraphs, and language in general work.

              • czech@no.faux.moe
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                1 year ago

                Just because the second verse literally has its own implied threat does not mean the first verse is unrelated. In songs and paragraphs adjacent sentences are typically related- its how English works- but I can’t speak for all languages.

                • irmoz@reddthat.com
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                  1 year ago

                  It’s not “unrelated”. It’s just not part of the same shitty statement. It’s part of a different shitty statement.

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  No. I’m against people intentionally misleading others even when I agree with their general thrust.

                  If people stopped buying in when they were being obviously mislead, we wouldn’t have had Trump

                  This really shouldn’t be such a hard concept for you to grasp.

                  • Oderus@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    That’s a lot of words to say, ‘yeah, I am spending a lot of personal, unpaid time to defend someone I don’t know’.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Except that’s not how songs are received. We don’t read them. We listen to them. And the two topic dog whistle is as old as Jim Crow.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Imagine listening to music and not being able to tell where different verses are. Song must be confusing!

      • zaph@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Flag burning is protected and threatening gun violence is a crime. What the gun violence is a reaction to is irrelevant.

        • usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          It matters in this case because the quoted lyrics imply the gun is linked to the flag portion of the song but it’s the start of a different verse. Not getting the facts straight devalues the (valid) criticisms and allows people to dismiss the whole thing outright. The point can be made without being misleading or being inaccurate, so why undermine it?

          • diablexical@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            But the section about having a gun immediately follows one about burning the flag? Comes across to me as hero fantasies of the flag burner escalating and giving the gun holder a justified reason to shoot them.

      • starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        The fact that this is down voted… hey guys maybe listen to the actual song so you can hear how this is very obviously an entire new verse, and the gun is not related to the flag burning? Why do we care more about bashing the song than being actually correct?

        • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Knee jerk, probably. People see the first line and don’t bother to read the rest without carrying over the initial reaction.

          Which, that’s the humor of it. You start out with a jarring intro, switch to a lighthearted part, and finish with a wink and a smile. Alas, a lot of people can’t let go of their first reaction in text like they would in person. Kinda silly, but this is the internet lol.

        • Ghostc1212@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          Modern society cares more about fighting perceived evil than they do about being good, or honorable. Even the truth must not stand in the way of the wrath of the angry mob of keyboard warriors.

      • CannaVet@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Really speaks to Republicans actual priority when the only take they can apply to anything in society is “It’s my god given American right to ensure everybody at all times knows exactly how hard my dick gets thinking about murdering them”

      • dangblingus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        No, that’s not what it implies at all. No one was talking about 2A or taking guns away. He’s literally mentioning the gun in direct response to the last infraction (burning the flag). Read it again.

        • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Read the lyrics to the actual song again

          Edit: the relevant verse is emphasized

          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

    • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s very telling that they thought this song was in defense of and promoting small towns. It’s the exact opposite.

      For one, I doubt many small towns are having liberal protests. Largely, I imagine, because two, they’re proudly declaring they’re close minded and violent. This song is just “patriotic” violence porn over imagining someone protesting for equal civil rights. Frankly it just reminds me, a non-white person, to stay the hell away from small towns.

      Is it too cruel to suggest that we let small towns fend for themselves completely if they’re so proud of it?

      • thelongshot93@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And it’s not like we haven’t let towns die before. There’s so many along railroads in the middle of nowhere that just stopped existing because people didn’t need to take trains everywhere anymore.