Jason Aldean in "Tattoos on This Town"

Jason Aldean had the country hit of the summer with the massively popular country rap “Dirt Road Anthem.” Will he rule the fall with “Tattoos on This Town.” The song, which is already No. 23 on the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, will undoubtedly get a boost from the video released today.

Aldean is one of country’s resident hunks, so he needs to be in the video, which intersperses footage of he and his band playing in an abandoned warehouse with a story that takes a deeply tragic turn that, to my mind, is a bit too heavy handed for the song. Having said that, congrats to the songwriters, Neil Thrasher, Wendell Mobley and Michael Dulaney, who came up with an image we haven’t gotten before in country songs—or any song—about leaving your permanent mark on your home city by comparing it to a tattoo.

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The video starts off following the lyrics of the song about hanging out in the rain, proposing to your girlfriend by painting the request on the overpass, swinging from a rope, but then it takes a turn as the male protagonist goes off to war and  SPOILER ALERT AHEAD  doesn’t come home. The marks he and his young widow left on the town--the carving their initials in the tree, the overpass, etc., and one very important reminder, are his legacy.

It is all beautifully shot and touches on all of country’s core themes: the outdoors, fireworks, patriotism, but the clip seemed a little too serious for the lighthearted tune. On the other hand, I’m a big fan of videos doing their own thing and not necessarily following the song’s structure.

What do you think?