Jason Aldean Changes ‘Take a Little Ride’ Lyrics to Reflect Coors Sponsorship
Jason Aldean is taking a little detour with his brand new single ‘Take a Little Ride,’ from his upcoming fifth album. The song is already on its way to becoming a fan favorite — it debuted at No. 1 on iTunes and it’s doing well on the Billboard chart so far, landing at No. 19 and marking the highest debut of his career. However, strange to some, Aldean has made some changes to the song’s lyrics in order to reflect his newly-signed Coors sponsorship and is pushing the new version to radio immediately.
A corporate partnership with a major beer company is a big deal to any artist, so making a minor lyrical amendment was likely (financially) worth it to Aldean. The singer cashed in the words ‘Shiner Bock’ in his original lyrics for ‘Rocky Tops’ — a nod to the Silver Bullet brand — per the request of the beer label.
According to Digital Music News, Aldean’s camp alerted programmers at country music radio stations throughout the U.S. about the, uh, refurbished lyrics, asking them to swap out the old version of the song with the new, Coors-friendly one.
The statement reads:
Jason Aldean is in the process of signing an endorsement deal with the Coors Brewing Company. With that, he has changed the ‘Shiner Bock’ line in the song ‘Take a Little Ride’ to “a couple Rocky Tops.’ We respectfully request you exchange this version with the one you are currently playing.
It’s not that big of a change, sure, when it comes to semantics and vocabulary. But when it comes down to contracts and sponsorship dollars, you can bet it’s a massive alteration, especially given that ‘Take a Little Ride’ is already spinning nationwide, and country music fans are already singing along to the original.
If nothing else, it’s certainly not everyday practice to swap up your song lyrics, so this news comes as a surprise to many. Some might even go as far as to call Aldean a sellout — but whether or not that’s a bad thing is anyone’s humble opinion.
Original ‘Take a Little Ride’ lyrics:
Been going round and round all day
Bailin’ some hay and stacking it all up
Can’t wait for the sun to go down,
Roll into town, shine the old truck up
Swing by the quick stop, grab a little Shiner Bock
Then ease on out your way
To your place around 8 o’clock
New Coors-inspired ‘Take a Little Ride’ lyrics:
Been going round and round all day
Bailin’ some hay and stacking it all up
Can’t wait for the sun to go down,
Roll into town, shine the old truck up
Swing by the quick stop, grab a couple Rocky Tops
Then ease on out your way
To your place around 8 o’clock