The Catchy Lyrics:
Pants on the ground,
Pants on the ground,
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!
With the gold in your mouth,
Hat turned sideways,
Pants hit the ground,
Call yourself a cool cat,
Lookin' like a fool,
Walkin' downtown with your pants on the ground!
Get it up, hey!
Get your pants off the ground,
Lookin' like a fool,
Walkin' talkin' with your pants on the ground.
Get it up, hey!
Get your pants off the ground,
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
The Back Story:
We got to wondering whether Larry Platt was really a General. He's not, but he has earned his nickname. I did a little Internet research and found this story over on USAToday.com:
Take a look at the photograph below from the home page of the Civil Rights Veterans Movement website. See the young man on the left, looking directly into the camera? That's Larry Platt, age 16.
"We had come by bus in 1963 to a church in Savannah, Georgia to plan a march to desegregate the city," Platt writes. "Reverend Hosea Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were our leaders. That particular planned march was canceled and we were singing to raise our spirits before returning home."
Platt worked with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia, organizing sit-ins in the South.
He was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.
He got his nickname, "General," from the Rev. Hosea Williams because of his heroic efforts on behalf of the civil-rights movement.
The Georgia General Assembly proclaimed Sept. 4, 2001, Larry Platt Day in Atlanta, because of "his great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia."
He remains a community activist in the Atlanta area and recently has become known for publicly protesting foreclosures.
I agree with USAToday's Idol Chatter:
If anybody in that Atlanta crowd deserved his 15 minutes of fame on national television, it was Larry Platt.
"Pants on the Ground" refers to the gangsta look of wearing oversized jeans literally falling off with your underwear sticking out and baseball caps sideways or backwards. Sing along with Roxy now: "Mouth full of gold...hat to the side... Lookin like a FOOL with your pants on the ground."
When "General" Larry Platt tells you to get your pants off the ground, you'd best listen.
I just might have to get my girls these commemerative T-shirts from Donkey Tees.
And on the subject of American Idol, I offer Roxy's lament:
Just when London, Maddie and I were starting to get into the show, making our plans for the girls to audition in 2018, we hear a rumor that show producers are in talks with skanky-haired dirtbag Howard Stern to replace Simon Cowell. I have disliked Howard Stern since I was a teenager when I had aspirations of becoming a disc jockey and owning radio stations one day. Howard Stern showed up with his foul mouth and misogynist attitude on WNBC radio and was exactly the opposite of my DJ role model.
Stern is FOX’s first choice to take over Cowell’s role, an insider tells the New York Post. “Idol bosses think he’d be even nastier than Simon,” a source says. “They know he would be great TV and would clash with the other judges such as Ellen DeGeneres and the contestants.” What they don't get is that Simon is "likeable nasty." If most mothers saw someone who looked, spoke, and behaved like Howard Stern at a restaurant or playground, we would steer our children far, far away from that derelict (see "Dirty Oars" post on Slightly Drunk blog). So I have no plans to invite dirty Howard into my family room on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I'll just have to hope that FOX pays attention to what the voters over at People magazine online are saying.
PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!
1 comments:
Hey Roxy, I'm back on Battle of the Blogs, and despite you dissing the greatest broadcaster in the history of broadcasting, I'm still going to vote for you. Despite the fact that I listen to Howard almost every day, I too would not want my daughter to be judged by him in any way whatsoever.
As for Pants on the Ground, Jimmy Fallon doing it as Neil Young was brilliant.
Have a good day, check out my new blog, and of course, BABA BOOEY to you!
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