After peeling back the layers of alleged "racist undertones" in Jason Aldean's new song, an influencer has dissected Toby Keith's song "Beer For My Horses" in the same way.
Destinee Stark took a look at Keith's 2003 song, which featured country music legend Willie Nelson, and later became the premise for the 2008 movie of the same name. Despite its popularity, Stark was asked to take a look at the song because of its references to "lynching."
Online influencer and activist Stark recently released a six-part video analysis of Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" after it received widespread criticism for allegedly promoting gun violence and containing racial connotations. She later revealed she'd received "dozens of death threats" and "vile" messages from Aldean's fans.
The backlash didn't stop her from unpacking the lyrics of Keith and Nelson's collaboration.
"I have no idea how we're not talking about this song," Stark began in a TikTok video. "How was this ever allowed on the radio?"
Quoting the line she had the most issue with, she recited: "'Grandpappy told my pappy back in the day, son a man has to answer for the wicked that he done. Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree, round up all them bad boys, hang them high in the tree for all the people to see.' What the f***?
"'We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds. We've got too much corruption too much crime in the streets. It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground.' Literally advocating for police violence and police killings," Stark said.
She finished by calling on Gen Z to "put Toby Keith on blast" because of the 20-year-old song.
"Beer For My Horses" enjoyed great success upon release, peaking at the number 1 spot on the U.S. Hot Country Songs on the Billboard Chart. The accompanying 2008 film was widely panned, however, and holds a 0 percent critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Stark's analysis got more than 155,000 views on TikTok, and thousands of comments. While the comments of her Aldean analysis were largely positive and supportive, some of the highest-rated comments on the Keith video disagreed with her.
"What's the difference between these songs and the gangster rap back in the day?" @rednecktazz asked. "Not bashing any music I listen to it all. Just wondering."
"I just always thought of this as like old Western times with bounty hunters…" wrote @snort_stories1
"Good lord! Hey, I know… let's do some rap songs," wrote @Welshdragon620.
Many of other popular comments defended the song, stating that there's no clandestine reference to race hidden in it. Many also defended Nelson, stating that if there was a racist meaning behind any lyric, he would not have been involved.
After receiving backlash from Aldean's fans, Stark detailed the extent of the reaction on her social media channels.
"All I've done is point out racist undertones of a song & I've gotten dozens of death threats, been slandered & accused of fraud, been doxxed, & have had the most vile s*** said to me by @Jason_Aldean's fans," she said on July 21. "If he won't stand against racism, he should AT LEAST stand against this."
Newsweek has reached out to Stark via email for further comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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