This song has been playing since the 80s, and now it's 2011 and the song "Money for Nothing" is now banned on Canadian radio stations because of the word "faggot" in the lyrics.

One local radio station went against the ban and played the song today in its entirety with a "wonder if we will get into trouble" comment.

Have a read.......

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/mu...z1AzC65CAU

I wonder if they banned "One In A Million" by Guns N' Roses....

What about "Fairytale In New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl? That has the word "faggot" in it too.

http://www.purelyrics.com...s=bsbtmeyq

Why now? Are they trawling through the archives of all contemporary music to do this? The whole thing is just absurd. It's weird because I've spent a great deal of time in Canada and it's always felt very liberal to me.

Militant said:

Why now? Are they trawling through the archives of all contemporary music to do this? The whole thing is just absurd. It's weird because I've spent a great deal of time in Canada and it's always felt very liberal to me.

Some woman complained and it was looked into.

Yeah we're liberal here

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

I wonder if it was a reaction to the popular hair metals bands of the time. The likes of Motley Crue or Poison.

Some might even interpret it as a jab at Prince. But I think Knopfler is a fan, so I doubt it.

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

From the wiki--

----

The observations of the character included references to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a description of a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and lamenting that the artists got "money for nothing and chicks for free". These lyrics were widely criticised as sexist, racist and homophobic statements, and in some later releases of the song the lyrics were edited for airplay; "faggot" for example is often replaced with "mother" (itself a shortened version of Motherfucker).

When the song is included in rotation as part of a music feed played in stores or restaurants, "faggot" is usually turned backwards.^{[citation needed]} The entire second verse was edited out for content and length for radio and video airplay, and on the 7" single. This edited version is included in the compilation albums Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and Money for Nothing.

In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy:

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, in an interview with Blender Magazine, claimed that the song is actually about his band's excessive lifestyle, and that he heard the clerks in the store were commenting on Mötley Crüe videos shown on the in-store television sets.^[5]

In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled^[6] that the unedited version of the song was unacceptable for air play on Canadian radio stations after receiving a complaint about a gay slur in the lyrics.^[7]

It should be noted that Elton John performed this song enthusiastically^[8], although with the word "faggot" replaced by "queenie", in 1988 at The Prince's Trust Concert.

-----

Seems this isn't anything new, just new for Canada. And, additionally, seems Mark Knopfler is none of the bad things listed, rather the song is written from the perspective of someone not in the music business who is particularly judgmental about musicians.

[Edited 1/13/11 22:58pm]

Militant said:

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

I wonder if it was a reaction to the popular hair metals bands of the time. The likes of Motley Crue or Poison.

Some might even interpret it as a jab at Prince. But I think Knopfler is a fan, so I doubt it.

I see... In the video when that line comes up, they have some video (of some foreign artist probably) but I don't know what they were going with that. All I can think when I hear that song is that "I want my MTV" line by Sting.

Spinlight said:

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

From the wiki--

----

The observations of the character included references to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a description of a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and lamenting that the artists got "money for nothing and chicks for free". These lyrics were widely criticised as sexist, racist and homophobic statements, and in some later releases of the song the lyrics were edited for airplay; "faggot" for example is often replaced with "mother" (itself a shortened version of Motherfucker).

When the song is included in rotation as part of a music feed played in stores or restaurants, "faggot" is usually turned backwards.^{[citation needed]} The entire second verse was edited out for content and length for radio and video airplay, and on the 7" single. This edited version is included in the compilation albums Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and Money for Nothing.

In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy:

“

I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London - he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can't let it have so many meanings - you have to be direct. In fact, I'm still in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to write songs that aren't in the first person, to take on other characters.[4]

”

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, in an interview with Blender Magazine, claimed that the song is actually about his band's excessive lifestyle, and that he heard the clerks in the store were commenting on Mötley Crüe videos shown on the in-store television sets.^[5]

In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled^[6] that the unedited version of the song was unacceptable for air play on Canadian radio stations after receiving a complaint about a gay slur in the lyrics.^[7]

It should be noted that Elton John performed this song enthusiastically^[8], although with the word "faggot" replaced by "queenie", in 1988 at The Prince's Trust Concert.

-----

Seems this isn't anything new, just new for Canada. And, additionally, seems Mark Knopler is none of the bad things listed, rather the song is written from the perspective of someone not in the music business who is particularly judgmental about musicians.

Yeah I kinda figured it was about that.

Dupe thread: http://prince.org/msg/8/350728

Spinlight said:

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

From the wiki--

----

The observations of the character included references to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a description of a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and lamenting that the artists got "money for nothing and chicks for free". These lyrics were widely criticised as sexist, racist and homophobic statements, and in some later releases of the song the lyrics were edited for airplay; "faggot" for example is often replaced with "mother" (itself a shortened version of Motherfucker).

When the song is included in rotation as part of a music feed played in stores or restaurants, "faggot" is usually turned backwards.^{[citation needed]} The entire second verse was edited out for content and length for radio and video airplay, and on the 7" single. This edited version is included in the compilation albums Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and Money for Nothing.

In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy:

“

I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London - he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can't let it have so many meanings - you have to be direct. In fact, I'm still in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to write songs that aren't in the first person, to take on other characters.[4]

”

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, in an interview with Blender Magazine, claimed that the song is actually about his band's excessive lifestyle, and that he heard the clerks in the store were commenting on Mötley Crüe videos shown on the in-store television sets.^[5]

In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled^[6] that the unedited version of the song was unacceptable for air play on Canadian radio stations after receiving a complaint about a gay slur in the lyrics.^[7]

It should be noted that Elton John performed this song enthusiastically^[8], although with the word "faggot" replaced by "queenie", in 1988 at The Prince's Trust Concert.

-----

Seems this isn't anything new, just new for Canada. And, additionally, seems Mark Knopfler is none of the bad things listed, rather the song is written from the perspective of someone not in the music business who is particularly judgmental about musicians.

[Edited 1/13/11 22:58pm]

This is obviously just a case of someone playing the "dirty" album version rather than the "clean" single version. As usual the media is focusing on the controversy rather than the truth. The song is not banned in Canada but the "dirty" version is not allowed on the radio. I strongly suspect that the vast majority of spins that the song gets on the US radio also feature the edited version. I also suspect that if the same station played Prince's "Sexy MF" rather than "Sexy Mutha" they would have received a few complaints.

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

You mean Mark Knopfler? I always thought he was referring to Prince.

Militant said:

I wonder if they banned "One In A Million" by Guns N' Roses....

What about "Fairytale In New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl? That has the word "faggot" in it too.

...or "Below The Funk ( Pass The J )" by Rick James on his Street Songs album. But actually, that one never got much airplay anyway, as with a whole lot of Funk.

Strange, the gossip is so tragic

They call me a faggot

And me and all my women laugh at it...

rialb said:

Spinlight said:

From the wiki--

----

The observations of the character included references to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a description of a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and lamenting that the artists got "money for nothing and chicks for free". These lyrics were widely criticised as sexist, racist and homophobic statements, and in some later releases of the song the lyrics were edited for airplay; "faggot" for example is often replaced with "mother" (itself a shortened version of Motherfucker).

When the song is included in rotation as part of a music feed played in stores or restaurants, "faggot" is usually turned backwards.^{[citation needed]} The entire second verse was edited out for content and length for radio and video airplay, and on the 7" single. This edited version is included in the compilation albums Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and Money for Nothing.

In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy:

“

I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London - he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can't let it have so many meanings - you have to be direct. In fact, I'm still in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to write songs that aren't in the first person, to take on other characters.[4]

”

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, in an interview with Blender Magazine, claimed that the song is actually about his band's excessive lifestyle, and that he heard the clerks in the store were commenting on Mötley Crüe videos shown on the in-store television sets.^[5]

In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled^[6] that the unedited version of the song was unacceptable for air play on Canadian radio stations after receiving a complaint about a gay slur in the lyrics.^[7]

It should be noted that Elton John performed this song enthusiastically^[8], although with the word "faggot" replaced by "queenie", in 1988 at The Prince's Trust Concert.

-----

Seems this isn't anything new, just new for Canada. And, additionally, seems Mark Knopfler is none of the bad things listed, rather the song is written from the perspective of someone not in the music business who is particularly judgmental about musicians.

[Edited 1/13/11 22:58pm]

This is obviously just a case of someone playing the "dirty" album version rather than the "clean" single version. As usual the media is focusing on the controversy rather than the truth. The song is not banned in Canada but the "dirty" version is not allowed on the radio. I strongly suspect that the vast majority of spins that the song gets on the US radio also feature the edited version. I also suspect that if the same station played Prince's "Sexy MF" rather than "Sexy Mutha" they would have received a few complaints.

Now that you mention it...

Militant said:

Timmy84 said:

I still wonder what was in that lead singer's mind (I forgot his name) when he did this song. Seem like he was mad at someone with that line, the fuck?

I wonder if it was a reaction to the popular hair metals bands of the time. The likes of Motley Crue or Poison.

Some might even interpret it as a jab at Prince. But I think Knopfler is a fan, so I doubt it.

I remember him talking about how he saw some blue-collar furniture removal guys at work one day, and MTV was on in the place they were working. He said he basically copied the lyric from their rants about the easy life of the rock stars on screen. I think the lyric makes sense, from that perspective, as he's taking on a character and using the language that character would use, but I can still see why people might be offended.

(P.S. I always took it to be about Prince, too!)

[Edited 1/14/11 9:34am]

dub thread http://prince.org/msg/8/350728

Militant said:

I wonder if they banned "One In A Million" by Guns N' Roses....

What about "Fairytale In New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl? That has the word "faggot" in it too.

Y'know, that came up here a couple of years ago, when the gay activist Peter Tatchell raised the point about why the BBC Radio 1 still plays it at Christmas. As I recall, some of the newspapers reported that he was trying to get it banned, but I think his point was more to ask 'why is this acceptable?', where songs with other slurs wouldn't be. He put a challenge to his critics to publicly defend a song that had the 'N-word' in it being played on prime time BBC radio, which I had to admit was a fairly compelling argument.

My take is that a 'clean' version is probably the easiest way to go, if people are offended. It makes the gesture, but it means the song can still get airplay. That said, if no-one's actually ever said they're offended by it, then trawling the annals of popular music, seeking out lyrics that some hypothetical person might possibly be offended by in a hypothetical scenario is likely to be unnecessary!

[Edited 1/14/11 9:40am]

sosgemini said:

dub thread http://prince.org/msg/8/350728

D'oh! I always post on the dupe!

I've always understood that Knopfler was speaking in the voice of a moving man grunt and his closeminded ways aka playing the part and speaking what the grunt was thinking/saying .

Timmy84 said:

Spinlight said:

From the wiki--

----

The observations of the character included references to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a description of a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and lamenting that the artists got "money for nothing and chicks for free". These lyrics were widely criticised as sexist, racist and homophobic statements, and in some later releases of the song the lyrics were edited for airplay; "faggot" for example is often replaced with "mother" (itself a shortened version of Motherfucker).

When the song is included in rotation as part of a music feed played in stores or restaurants, "faggot" is usually turned backwards.^{[citation needed]} The entire second verse was edited out for content and length for radio and video airplay, and on the 7" single. This edited version is included in the compilation albums Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and Money for Nothing.

In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy:

“

I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London - he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can't let it have so many meanings - you have to be direct. In fact, I'm still in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to write songs that aren't in the first person, to take on other characters.[4]

”

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, in an interview with Blender Magazine, claimed that the song is actually about his band's excessive lifestyle, and that he heard the clerks in the store were commenting on Mötley Crüe videos shown on the in-store television sets.^[5]

In January 2011, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled^[6] that the unedited version of the song was unacceptable for air play on Canadian radio stations after receiving a complaint about a gay slur in the lyrics.^[7]

It should be noted that Elton John performed this song enthusiastically^[8], although with the word "faggot" replaced by "queenie", in 1988 at The Prince's Trust Concert.

-----

Seems this isn't anything new, just new for Canada. And, additionally, seems Mark Knopler is none of the bad things listed, rather the song is written from the perspective of someone not in the music business who is particularly judgmental about musicians.

Yeah I kinda figured it was about that.

It was most likely a shot at Motley since in 1985 they were huge, Jovi wasnt that big yet, they didnt blow up mainstream till 1987, seriously this could have even been about KISS at the time, or a slew of english bands. The Word QUEENIE was also said during the LIVE AID show, he changed it for the stage and obviously the telecast.

JUST a little off-topic here but in 1985 there was a Miami Vice episode where Don Johnson is telling Phillip M Thomas a story about his old partner that "came out" got transfered, and then got himself shot because of the other guys that were talking about him, the epsiode is called "EVAN" and Evan is the one that caused the suicide of this guy, and when Don tells Phil the story, he says "Next thing you know, Evan went nuts, everything was Faggot This and Faggot that" how scary is it that 25 years later we are less free with words, i mean i know the fear is that the word inspires HATE but you know, its a word and whoopi goldberg said about the N word, you cant hurt me with a word.

lastdecember said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah I kinda figured it was about that.

It was most likely a shot at Motley since in 1985 they were huge, Jovi wasnt that big yet, they didnt blow up mainstream till 1987, seriously this could have even been about KISS at the time, or a slew of english bands. The Word QUEENIE was also said during the LIVE AID show, he changed it for the stage and obviously the telecast.

JUST a little off-topic here but in 1985 there was a Miami Vice episode where Don Johnson is telling Phillip M Thomas a story about his old partner that "came out" got transfered, and then got himself shot because of the other guys that were talking about him, the epsiode is called "EVAN" and Evan is the one that caused the suicide of this guy, and when Don tells Phil the story, he says "Next thing you know, Evan went nuts, everything was Faggot This and Faggot that" how scary is it that 25 years later we are less free with words, i mean i know the fear is that the word inspires HATE but you know, its a word and whoopi goldberg said about the N word, you cant hurt me with a word.

Some black folks would say they would hear the n-word and as a retaliation they said "I don't hang out with them either".

deebee said:

Y'know, that came up here a couple of years ago, when the gay activist Peter Tatchell raised the point about why the BBC Radio 1 still plays it at Christmas. As I recall, some of the newspapers reported that he was trying to get it banned, but I think his point was more to ask 'why is this acceptable?', where songs with other slurs wouldn't be. He put a challenge to his critics to publicly defend a song that had the 'N-word' in it being played on prime time BBC radio, which I had to admit was a fairly compelling argument.

My take is that a 'clean' version is probably the easiest way to go, if people are offended. It makes the gesture, but it means the song can still get airplay. That said, if no-one's actually ever said they're offended by it, then trawling the annals of popular music, seeking out lyrics that some hypothetical person might possibly be offended by in a hypothetical scenario is likely to be unnecessary!

[Edited 1/14/11 9:40am]

Peter Tatchell is such a douchebag. It was because of him that a whole bunch of dancehall artists got banned from performing in the UK. Folks like Buju Banton, who yes, admittedly had very homophobic lyrics in the early 90's, but since that time he became a very spiritual committed Rasta and doesn't sing the old songs any more. And some other artists got banned when they've never said anything remotely homophobic, just by being associated with other people that are.

Militant said:

deebee said:

Y'know, that came up here a couple of years ago, when the gay activist Peter Tatchell raised the point about why the BBC Radio 1 still plays it at Christmas. As I recall, some of the newspapers reported that he was trying to get it banned, but I think his point was more to ask 'why is this acceptable?', where songs with other slurs wouldn't be. He put a challenge to his critics to publicly defend a song that had the 'N-word' in it being played on prime time BBC radio, which I had to admit was a fairly compelling argument.

My take is that a 'clean' version is probably the easiest way to go, if people are offended. It makes the gesture, but it means the song can still get airplay. That said, if no-one's actually ever said they're offended by it, then trawling the annals of popular music, seeking out lyrics that some hypothetical person might possibly be offended by in a hypothetical scenario is likely to be unnecessary!

[Edited 1/14/11 9:40am]

Peter Tatchell is such a douchebag. It was because of him that a whole bunch of dancehall artists got banned from performing in the UK. Folks like Buju Banton, who yes, admittedly had very homophobic lyrics in the early 90's, but since that time he became a very spiritual committed Rasta and doesn't sing the old songs any more. And some other artists got banned when they've never said anything remotely homophobic, just by being associated with other people that are.

"(Its like) Boom bye bye
Inna batty bwoy head
Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man
Dem haffi dead
Boom bye bye
Inna batty bwoy head
Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man
Dem haffi dead"

- Buju Banton, 1992

"There is no end to the war between me and faggot."

- Buju Banton, 2009

Yeah, clearly, he's a real reformed character. I only brought up the Tatchell thing as in interesting aside, but since you raise the Banton issue, my take is good on the activists that pressured him into pledging to stop profiting from promoting the murder of gay people (even if he doesn't seem to have taken the message to heart or sought to do it of his own accord). It's no great loss if a few little wannabe rude boys don't get to see their favourite dancehall singer if the payoff is keeping homophobic scum out of our country.

oh lawd I made a dupe thread. Forgive me folks