Try calling Jason Aldean a heathen in a small town! If you don’t know the historical meaning of that word, it sounds like an insult.
What is a Heathen?
The old English word “heath” means “country.” So, his song “Try That in a Small Town” is a heathen song. According to Etymonline, the word “heathen” has connotations of both “unchristian” as well as “rural.” In that case, it’s definitely a heathen song!
Old English hæðen “not Christian or Jewish,” also as a noun, “heathen man, one of a race or nation which does not acknowledge the God of the Bible” (especially of the Danes), merged with Old Norse heiðinn (adj.) “heathen, pagan,” from Proto-Germanic *haithana- (source also of Old Saxon hedhin, Old Frisian hethen, Dutch heiden, Old High German heidan, German Heiden), which is of uncertain origin.
Perhaps literally “dweller on the heath, one inhabiting uncultivated land;” see heath + -en (2). Historically assumed to be ultimately from Gothic haiþno “gentile, heathen woman,” used by Ulfilas in the first translation of the Bible into a Germanic language (as in Mark vii.26, for “Greek”); like other basic words for exclusively Christian ideas (such as church) it likely would have come first into Gothic and then spread to other Germanic languages. If so it could be a noun use of an unrelated Gothic adjective (compare Gothic haiþi “dwelling on the heath,” but a religious sense is not recorded for this).
The original meaning of this word was simply a country person. As Christianity spread, it went first to the rural centers. People who lived in cities converted to Christianity long before those who lived in the country. Country folk held onto pre-Christian religions and practices of their ancestors, long after city dwellers (“citizens”) practiced their piety in cathedrals. So, those who lived in the large villages and cities referred to country folk as heathens. Eventually, this word took on the connotation of “Pagan” (in its non-Christian sense, as opposed to “pagan” in its rural sense). But really, all it meant was country folk.
A Bias Against Country Folks
To this day, many city people have biases against folks from the country. Have you ever noticed that when people in conversation want to mimic the behavior or mock the speech of a simple, dumb, or ignorant person, they usually put on a US-Southern accent? (It’s not just a US thing—they do it here in Canada, too.) People from larger cities often view rural people as uncultured, uncouth, and uncivilized. They are just heathens!
What is a Villain?
Country folk likewise hold a similar disregard for villains. Etymonline gives the background for the word “villain” as:
1300 (late 12c. as a surname), “base or low-born rustic,” from Anglo-French and Old French vilain “peasant, farmer, commoner, churl, yokel” (12c.), from Medieval Latin villanus “farmhand,” from Latin villa “country house, farm” (from PIE root *weik- (1) “clan”). Meaning “character in a novel, play, etc. whose evil motives or actions help drive the plot” is from 1822.
The most important phases of the sense development of this word may be summed up as follows: ‘inhabitant of a farm; peasant; churl, boor; clown; miser; knave, scoundrel.’ Today both Fr. vilain and Eng. villain are used only in a pejorative sense. [Klein]
While I accept this etymology, I believe it leaves out an important step in the word’s evolution. Sure, it began as “one from the villa,” or country—but as villas grew, they became villages. A villain, then, is someone from a village. This connotative difference evidences the prejudices that heathens (country people) had against villains (townsfolk). This prejudice became so widespread that when we hear the word “villain” we naturally think of a criminal.
A Bias Against City People
From the heathen perspective, city people lived in houses that were stacked on top of each other, among the reek of sewage and industry. They lived where the taverns and sex workers could be found. Where the pickpockets would get you if you went to town. Eventually, the word “villain,” which only meant someone from a village, came to be synonymous with criminality. Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” is a perfect example of the bias that country folks have against people from the city. It’s also racist. Click here to read my article, “Racist ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Vs. Reconciling ‘So Long, Dixie.’”
Try That in a Small Town
Through the imagery in his video, Aldean equates cities with acts of violence. Then, he says, “Try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road…Around here we take care of our own.” In his video, Aldean contrasts the violent images of the city with depictions of peaceful country folk who take care of one another in need. I can hardly think of a better depiction of the bias that country people have against city people than this video. So, country mice think that city mice are villains, while city people think that country folks are heathens. And so, the labeling continues.
Heathens and Villains
The phrases “heathens” and “villains” reflect the language of bias between city people and country folks. But this division is probably the least significant of all the biases we could mention. Far greater are the divisions between race, ethnicity, and nationality that cause people to hate one another. Prejudice also exists on both sides between cisgender heterosexuals, and LGBTQIA+ folks. Feminists gripe about men, while misogynists complain about women. Religions are at odds with one another. The list goes on.
Kill the Beast
Racism, classism, ableism, sexism, and religionism are all expressions of the fear of the unknown, which can often result in violence. In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the villagers act like villains when Gaston gathers the mob to attack the Beast’s castle. As they gather their weapons, they sing:
We don’t like
What we don’t understand
In fact it scares us
And this monster is mysterious at least
Bring your guns
Bring your knives
Save your children and your wives
We’ll save our village and our lives
We’ll kill the Beast!
What an amazing job done by the songwriters, to call this attitude out so specifically. We are scared by whatever we don’t understand. So, we are ready to label and destroy it. Aldean’s song is just another version of The Mob Song in the Disney movie.
“Don’t Stand on Issues—Walk with People”
In his book How to Human: Three Ways to Share Life Beyond What Distracts, Divides, and Disconnects Us, author, influencer, and speaker Carlos Whittaker discusses our tendency to put people into groups, label them, judge them, and shun them. He encourages folks, “Don’t stand on issues; walk with people.” This doesn’t mean that you have no opinions, he says. But you should only form your opinions once you’ve walked with people through their struggles. It’s important to remember that people are not issues. People are real human beings with stories and hopes and dreams and fears and loves. Rather than labeling folks as heathens, villains, or any other moniker, walking with people means we would see them as fellow humans on the same road. Let’s start seeing the humanity of those around us. And, as Carlos says, “When we see humans, we can free humans.”
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