"Radio stations told to censor Dire Straits"
"(Reuters) - Canadian radio stations have been warned to censor the 1985 Dire Straits hit 'Money for Nothing,' after a complaint that the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning song were derogatory to gay men.
"A St. John's, Newfoundland, station should have edited the song to remove the word
'faggot' because it violates Canada's human rights standards, according to ruling this week by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
"A unnamed listener to OZ FM in the Atlantic Coast province complained to the industry watchdog last year after hearing the song, which features Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler and fellow rock star Sting.
"The council said it realized Dire Straits uses the word sarcastically, and its use might have been acceptable in 1985 when the best-selling 'Brothers in Arms' album was released, but said it was now inappropriate.
. . .
"The ruling comes in the wake of an uproar sparked by a U.S. scholar who decided to publish an edition of Mark Twain's novel 'Huckleberry Finn' that would remove the word 'nigger' to make it less offensive to some readers."
It's sad that some people feel the need to impose their notions of what is "proper" not only on their contemporaries, but even on the past. What's next? Putting clothes on nudes in paintings and sculpture? Shakespeare's work is full of bawdy material. Ban the bard!
Personally, I thought Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" was kick-ass then, and I still think it's kick-ass today:
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5 comments:
Interesting. The Who, "Who are you" has the line, "Who the fuck are you?" and it never got censored.
It is still kick-ass, no doubt. The only problem is that they said it so clearly and everyone could tell.
Have you listened to some of the lyrics to the songs out there now??? Good grief, I was shocked by one playing on the radio just yesterday morning. It was graphically narrating a woman "going down" on the singer.
When stuff like this makes news.... there must not be much else out there for the talking heads to report on.
Of all the songs out there....! I can sing soe of them and never understand what I'm singing. I asked my son what this song was about and he said they were furniture moving guys. Ok I can see that. If the word is not directed to you intentionally what does it matter. If i call someone a dumb a$$ that doesn't mean he/she is an uneducated donkey. It's just a couple of discriptive words pertaining to my view of a person. Lord we sure do call people names because they fit. And sometimes they just seem to fit at an occasion. I think that country should find better things to do....UNLESS they are mimicing Racine and picking on little stuff like smoking in the park. AND NOT DOING ANYTHING TO BRING DOWN CRIME. Or get the judges to start passing realistic sentences. OK rant is over. PS I like the song.
For some reason, I've always thought they were referring to Prince when they mentioned "the little faggot." I don't know why.
The Piggly-Wiggly on 3 Mile & Erie plays some hard core rock music. I've heard "fuck" a number of times while buying groceries. I asked one of the clerks about it. She said the owner thinks rock music keeps the employees working faster.
♪You play the guitar on the M.T.V.
That ain't working, that's the way you do it
Money for nothing and your chicks for free♫
I love this tune! The definite song of the '80's...
Anyways, I heard about this a couple of days ago on another blog. What boggled my mind at first was why now, after the tune has been an existence for more than 20 years? Two, why censor this one when there a million of other ones that "need" it?
With all the political correctness going on, I can see why. Yet, as much as I hate censorship, I just roll eyes and say,"Geeze" to the people whom want to censor them...
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