About

Pants on the Ground is an original song written and performed by Larry Platt, a 62 year old contestant who auditioned for the ninth season of popular reality TV show, American Idol. As the title implies, the song talks about how people seriously need to pull their pants up, because wearing pants below waistline doesn't really make them look "cool." Though Mr. Platt couldn't make it to the next round (due to the program's age restrictions), his message of Pants on the Ground certainly entertained the judges and millions of viewers at home.

Origin

American Idol's audition took place in June 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia; Larry Platt's performance aired on January 13, 2010. While the first YouTube upload of Larry's segment was taken down due to copyright claims, there are several duplicates in place, like this one with 6 million plus views (as of April 2010):

Lyrics

Hey! Get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool / With your pants on the Ground
With the gold in your mouth / Hat turned sideways
Call yourself a cool cat / Pants on the ground!

On February 4, 2010, a studio single version of Larry's song was released by American King Music for MP3 Download. Reflecting his mainstream popularity, Pants on the Ground briefly entered the Top 100 Chart in the US and Canada, peaking at #46 in the US Singles Top 100.

Viral Derivatives

"Pants on the Ground" quickly rose to viral status in the following days; dozens of YouTubers as well as celebrities performed the song in honor of Larry. As of April 2010, there are currently over 12,000 instances of Pants on the Ground and its derivatives available on YouTube.

A parody by asathecomic on YouTube:

Pants on the Ground remix by DJ Steve Porter (see also: Slap Chop):

Mainstream Derivatives

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young covering "Pants on the Ground"

96.1 KISS FM Morning Freak Show

Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Brett Favre sings "Pants on the Ground"

On January 24th, General Larry Platt performed his song personally for the Minnesota Vikings just before the NFC Conference final matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

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