Here’s a first: This week’s song contains words that younger or more sensitive viewers/listeners may find inappropriate. This week in 1985 a song that was not from a movie was reached the top of the charts. On September 21 1985, “Money for Nothing” (video up top) by British rock band Dire Straits reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. It was the second single from their fifth studio album, Brothers in Arms.
Let’s get ”the lyrics controversy” out of the way first: The second verse uses the word “faggot”, though many versions used a different word, like for broadcasts (I can remember Chicago-based stations using the word “bozo”, though I could well be remembering that incorrectly because it was 40 years ago, after all, and because the actual song uses the word “yoyo” in the first verse). At any rate, I bought the album Brothers in Arms, and I remember feeling a little squirmy at hearing the word. However, It was also clear to me that the song is from the point of view of a blue collar worker, and that person uses the word as a matter of course, but, in context, he’s also grudgingly admiring someone who gets “money for nothing”. I absolutely get all that, and got it way back when, however, I still had some reservations.
First, not everyone would get the fact that singer Mark Knopfler was basically performing a role, not endorsing a world view. Also, in 1985 there was a still a LOT of stridently—often aggressively so—anti-gay rhetoric coming from church and state, and using the word would inadvertently reinforce the negativity and bigotry. Ironically, even though the developed world (perhaps no longer including the USA…) has moved forward on LGBTQ+ issues, it’s no longer socially acceptable to use the word.
In general, I think that the acceptability of various words is, always has been, and probably always will be, a topic of often heated debate. My general attitude is that context is important, and so, I seldom engage with those who hold strong opinions about words used in songs. For me, this song and that word were no different.
Another thing about this song that is notable is its music video. The video was an early—and primitive—use of 3D computer animation, and it almost didn’t happen. Knopfler hated the idea of music videos because, as a performer, he felt it degarded the song and the performance by relegating it. The video director, Steve Barron, was asked by the label to convince Knopfler to have a video because while MTV was interested in the song, they didn’t want a video that was just a performance video of Knopfler and the band: They wanted a concept.
I was never a huge fan of Dire Straits, or of “Money for Nothing”, but I liked them both well enough to buy the album Brothers in Arms on vinyl, and I liked that a lot. I may have also bought one or two other albums, but I don’t know for sure because, again, it was a long time ago, but also because I only brought maybe a dozen or so albums with me to New Zealand, and there were no Dire Straits albums among them. But I remember having this particular album, and one of the reasons I remember it so clearly is because of that one controversial word.
“Money for Nothing” reached Number 4 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Gold), Number 4 in New Zealand (5x Platinum), Number 4 in the UK (Platinum), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and also on their “Top Rock Tracks” chart, and it was alss Number One on Cash Box. The song wasn’t certified in the USA.
The album Brothers in Arms was rather successful: It reached Number One in Australia (17x Platinum), Canada (Diamond), New Zealand (24x Platinum), the UK (15x Platinum), and also on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (9x Platinum). Successful? It’s among the most successful of any of the albums I’ve mentioned in this series.
This series will return in two weeks, on October 12 with another first in this series—or, all of them, actually.
Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5 – April 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 6 – May 11, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 7 – May 18, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 8 – June 1, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 9 – June 8, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 10 – June 22, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 11 – July 6, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 12 – July 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 13 – July 27, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 14 – August 3, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 15 – August 24, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 16 – September 7, 2025
2 comments:
Brothers in Arms is the first compact discof new music I ever bought. I also got greatest hits of Billy Joel and Elton John.
Interestingly I don't remember what the first CD I ever bought was, by I didn't even have a CD player until the early 90s. I do know what some of my earliest choices were, and when I moved to New Zealand I had 10 or 20 that I brought with me (and then found Nigel and I had three that were the same).
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