TAKOMA PARK, MD – Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has raised eyebrows after releasing a hit new single, “Try That in a Single-Family Zone,” that contains lyrics that many feel have crossed a line:
“Sucker punch somebody by proposing new sidewalks,
Charge an old lady for parking at the Co-Op,
Pull a building permit next door to the owner of a boutique store,
Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like.Build an ADU, spit in our faces,
Add a bike lane to remove parking spaces,
Yeah, ya think you’re tough
Well, try that in a single-family zone.See how far ya make it at the Board of Appeals
Around here, we take care of our own.
You cross that bike lane, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a single-family zone.”
The song goes on to describe “long term residents” who “take care of their lawns” and won’t tolerate disrespect of historic dry cleaners or free parking lots. It draws a sharp distinction between suburban America, where proud owners fight for safe, 2,500 square foot single-family houses on huge lots, and big cities, where urbanists illegally construct tall buildings and dense communities to promote rampant crime.
“When you grow up in a single-family zone, like I did, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other’s wealth,'” said Elrich, wearing a cowboy hat and patent leather boots. “It feels like somewhere along the way, we lost that sense of community and respect when we let multi-family rental properties here, too. Deep down, we are all ready to to fight back with more impact studies.”
Elrich added that he hopes the music video for “Try That in a Single-Family Zone” makes people feel more entitled to protect that way of life—although his choice of location for the video, the Chevy Chase Library site where affordable housing has been proposed, did not go unnoticed.
The song was released shortly after country music singer Jason Aldean released, “Try That in a Small Town,” but instead of falling into the country music genre, Elrich’s song is in the style of Peter, Paul and Mary.
