Can a guitar shop really ban someone from playing Stairs to Heaven?

In Wayne's World (1992), Wayne (played by Mike Myers) and Garth (played by Dana Cavey) are depressed about their experience in the guitar shop. When Wayne started playing the first note of led zeppelin's Stairs to Heaven, a grumpy employee pointed to a sign: "There is no Stairs to Heaven here.

"There are no stairs here," Wayne said. "refuse."

This is a one-off joke in the touchstone of comedy in the 1990s, but it also seems to touch the nerves of real guitar shopkeepers. As Wayne's world pointed out, they had to listen to it for decades.

In the Chicago Tribune's introduction to the guitar factory in Evanston, Illinois in 2002, it was said that the staff once told guitar lovers that "there is no ladder to heaven". Spokane Review in Spokane, Washington called it "the self-evident rule of guitar shops".

But are they insinuating movies or seriously refuting not playing songs? Is it really bad to enter the "ladder"?

Stairs, (sometimes) rejected

In most cases, banning "stairs" is a joke with real elements. Guitar shops don't necessarily have the habit of excluding potential customers, because people who can't play well are as rich as relatively professional people. But suppose the staff in the guitar shop are really dissatisfied with your singing this song and really ask you to leave-even forbid you to enter the shop. Is this legal?

"The short answer is, yes, companies can make such rules, but it may not be a good idea," Jed McKihan, a lawyer in Knoxville, Tennessee, told Mental Floss. "Corporate customers are invitees. This means that under normal circumstances, companies will invite customers to their premises, so customers have the right to be present. "

However, the enterprise can withdraw the invitation. Although no customers seem to complain that they are forbidden to play "stairs", shops may have the right to ask anyone to leave, as long as they do not belong to the federal protection class under the federal civil rights act and are not discriminated against because of race, color, religion or nationality. In addition, no one can be refused services on the grounds of disability; Many States further restrict enterprises from refusing to provide services on the grounds of gender or sexual behavior.

However, when disturbing or harassing others, stores can-and often do-ask customers to leave. Does it count to play Stairs to Heaven?

McKeehan said: "Enterprises can refuse to provide services based on misconduct, such as profanity, harassing customers, threatening employees, lack of hygiene ... (or trying to visit enterprises after work." "So a place can stop a song from playing? Yes, but what kind of precedent does this set? Is being Seinfeld's soup Nazi good for business? I personally don't think so, but as far as I know, it is legal to ban certain songs. "

Some people may argue that disability prevents you from playing Stairs to Heaven correctly. In this case, the store may face some consequences when it asks you to leave. More likely, they will only be notorious because they can't tolerate substandard guitar playing.

It may also be a myth that people like this song, because it is one of the favorite tunes of amateur players, or because it is easy to learn. Neither seems to be correct. More likely, this song is so popular and familiar that people often project their fantasies about rock stars on it.

As for Wayne's world, this popular joke has meta-meaning. The original clip of the movie allowed Wayne to play a few notes in the actual song before the clerk intervened. However, when producers found that even a few records cost $65,438+000,000 in royalties for broadcasting and home video distribution, they deleted them. In the current version of the film, Wayne didn't play the song in any recognizable way. Even led zeppelin doesn't seem to want anyone to play "the stairs of heaven"