Internet Reacts to Kid Rock’s ‘Never Quit’ Video

Kid Rock's new music video for his song "Never Quit" features a gun-toting community that is armed to the teeth to fight… vandalism?

The video for the song from the Bad Reputation album released yesterday (Sept.13) shifts between Kid Rock and the storyline of a general store/restaurant owner and the residents of a small town.

The Black store owner opens up in the morning to find the place ransacked. As he's sifting through the damage (shelves and shattered glass, popcorn and loose cereal on the floor, along with broken pictures of men in the military) the scene segues to the night before — a couple of kids clad in black and ski masks tearing up the place, for no particular reason other than they are stupid young punks. Anyway, the text goes out, and the town is galvanized to fight this new threat to the heartland: Young punks with nothing better to do.

Word spreads quickly through the town. The local bar springs into action first, the bartender going to the janitor's closet to grab her pump action shotgun (located next to the mop). Then the couple reading in the living room with a pistol on the end table with their keys and change on it, smash cut to their whole arsenal of assault rifles laid out on the kitchen cutting board. As more of the town is informed, including the obligatory dude on the tractor, we get a glimpse inside a workshop, where a man and woman aren't just gathering weapons, they are MAKING ammo, some kind of long rifle or armor piercing shells.

Meanwhile, Kid Rock still singing, wearing a Ted Nugent-approved camo vest and cowboy hat, also has his own guns! He proudly flips back his vest to reveal a gold plated pistol tucked into his belt. And then he's got a modern black shotgun at his shoulder, aimed and ready.

Kid Rock Ready to F**k Sh*t Up in "Never Quit" Video

How all out war on punkery is avoided, we'll never know. The townspeople, despite being ready for a Red Dawn-type incursion, just show up outside the general store, prepared to help clean up. Even the teenage ne'er do-wells grab brooms and get to work. Fortunately, the store owner declines pressing charges, and puts them to work behind the grill. Twist ending! (Eat your heart out, The Sixth Sense.)

Kid Rock "Never Quit"

With Rock being one of the more polarizing figures in music, the video yielded a mix of response online. One Twitter commenter offered, "Kid Rock has become a parody of himself it's actually hilarious," while another suggested, “'Never Quit' …but maybe it’s time you do." And a Facebook responder offered, "If you’ve read the news in the last decade or so, you’re already well aware that we live on the absolute stupidest possible timeline. If you haven’t, you can catch yourself up in just three minutes and 23 seconds via the new video for Kid Rock‘s 'Never Quit.'”

But there were also plenty who backed Rock and the statement they felt he was making with the video.

One YouTube commenter offered, "That was a great music video! Wholesome. We all make bad mistakes… well, mistakes isn't always the right word. We've all been kids. I think we all partook in some unacceptable behavior. The kids here felt guilt, did the right thing, made amends, and became friends. Heartwarming stuff here." Another suggested, "That was a good message in this video. A community coming together for all the right reasons." And yet another added, "I want to point of the absolutely amazing display of like minded community coming together when the bell rings. I’ve said for years, building a tight group (Militia) of close friends and family for when SHTF is extremely important. I love how Kid Rock portrays that in this video. Let freedom ring USA."

On Twitter, one commenter suggested, "Kid Rock just tells it like it is, here’s his new video," while another added, "If you get it, you get it."