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Song of the Day #5,534: ‘Try That in a Small Town’ – Jason Aldean

While we’re discussing problematic right-wing country songs that hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, let me shift the conversation to Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town.’ This song was released in May to little fanfare but stirred up controversy last month when its video dropped.

The lyrics condone vigilantism in the face of big city violence, with the opening verse targeting carjackings, battery, and armed robbery before moving on to the more benign insulting of police officers and flag burning. Apparently all of these infractions are equally worthy of homegrown justice in a small town.

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Song of the Day #5,533: ‘Rich Men Earning North of a Million’ – Billy Bragg

Viral hit ‘Rich Men North of Richmond,’ yesterday’s Song of the Day, caught the attention of English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, who apparently had the same reservations about the lyrics as most thoughtful people.

He did recognize the germ of truth at the heart of the song, however, and wrote his own tune in response, directing his anger at the titular rich men rather than the obese welfare recipients targeted by Anthony.

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Song of the Day #5,532: ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ – Oliver Anthony

I just got through a couple of weeks of recapping the Billboard Hot 100, but if I’d waited until this week to start I would have had a couple of notable milestones to cover.

First, as I predicted two weeks ago, Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ hung on to the top spot for one more week, surpassing Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ to become the song with the longest tenure at #1 by a solo artist (without features). Perhaps a 4-month run at #1 makes that the default Song of the Summer?

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Song of the Day #5,531: ‘Brother Louie’ – Stories

Throwing back to the week of August 25, 1973, we find the New York rock band Stories topping the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of the song ‘Brother Louie,’ a slinky jam about an interracial couple.

This song was originally recorded by a British band called Hot Chocolate. Their funkier version, complete with spoken-word interludes by the racist parents of the song’s protagoinsts, reached #7 on the UK charts.

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Song of the Day #5,530: ‘Fingertips – Pt 2’ – Little Stevie Wonder

Throwing back to the week of August 24, 1963, we find a pre-teen Stevie Wonder (then billed as Little Stevie Wonder) atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Fingertips – Pt 2,’ the B-side of the first single from his album The 12 Year Old Genius – Recorded Live.

The full ‘Fingertips’ is an instrumental jazz track that was split across two sides for release. It was the second half of the performance, when Wonder was called back onstage for an encore after a rousing bit of harmonica playing, that rocketed up the charts, giving Wonder his first #1 hit.

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