Last Friday at Howl at the Moon in Kansas City, someone requested a song I had never heard of called “Pants on the Ground”.    One of the other players called out the name of the song and half the room went nuts.

Well, apparently it all stems from this clip from American Idol with General Larry Platt singing his song “Pants on the Ground”  (see it while it’s still available)…

YouTube – Pants on the ground.

Another player learned it and performed it the following night (along with some choreography…I was backing him up on drums) and it went over HUGE.  Certainly one of the bigger songs of the night.

Well,  yesterday we got word from Howl at the Moon Corporate that we’re not allowed to perform the song “Pants on the Ground” anymore.  I would have to assume that it would be off limits if someone requests the Jimmy Fallon AS Neil Young’s PARODY of “Pants on the Ground” as well:

It’s censorship, yes.   And despite the fact that  I firmly believe that an individual has the right to play or perform the songs they choose,  I also firmly believe that right also extends to a company.   If they don’t want a song performed it in their club, for whatever reason, that is their decision.  There are thousands of other songs we CAN play.  Let’s not split hairs over this one song…yesterday was, after all, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

But it’s a slippery slope.   What if Google started removing this song from search listings?   What if a law was passed banning public performance this song?   What kind of precedent does this set?

For me, it says one thing…keep my pants off the ground.  Word.