Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the eastern United States, Clear Channel Communications—the owner at the time of over 1000 radio stations in the United States—issued a memorandum of songs to avoid playing, which included "I'm Goin' Down". Program directors at some stations had emailed each other lists of songs, which in the words of two programming vice presidents, were believed to be "too dark or possibly way too upbeat and happy [or have] lyrics that may refer to crashes of some kind or death", or simply have "questionable" titles. The resulting collaborative list was then distributed to all the stations by Clear Channel Communications management, who wanted to be careful to not depress listeners in their grieving time following the attacks. Other songs on the list included Springsteen's "I'm on Fire", as well as ones such as "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M., "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins.