VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Canadian radio station 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 decision doesn't really relate to the Dire Straits song at the end of the day, the decision relates to the word in question," Ron Cohen, the council's chairman, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

OZ FM argued unsuccessfully that the song has been played countless times since it was released more than 25 years ago, has won various industry awards, including a Grammy in 1986, and remains popular with listeners around the world.

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 "******" to make it less offensive to some readers.

Although the Dire Straits ruling only sanctions the St John's station, it means other Canadian radio stations could get in trouble it they air the song without censoring it.

The Broadcast Standards Council is a non-governmental industry group that administers ethical standards established by its members, Canada's private broadcasters

Dire Straits dissolved as a band in the 1990s after a string of hit albums.

(Reporting Allan Dowd; editing by Rob Wilson)


so much for free speech...

i HEAR SOME STATIONS ARE GOING TO PLAY IT BACK TO BACK FOR A COUPLE HOURS.

woohoo... one of my favorite songs back then too...you know that Sting was the one singing in the background saying "i want my MTV"

That's one they wore slap to th' bone.

What a joke

money for nothing and your chics for free... thats the way to do it...

I want my MTV (X 16)
Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
We gotta install microwave ovens Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these color TV's
(See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he's a millionaire)
Gotta install microwave ovens Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
Gotta move these color TV's
I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera Man
we could have some And he's up there,
what's that? Hawaiian noises? Bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free
We gotta install microwave ovens Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these color TV's
Look a' here That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on your MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free Money for nothin' and chicks for free
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
Look at that, look at that Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
I want my,
I want my,
I want my MTV Money for nothin' and chicks for free (Fade)
I want my,
I want my,
I want my MTV

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dire+straits/#share


just a terrible travesty to society...

I love that song. I guess we should sensor pretty fly for a white guy. That offends me because apparently as a white guy I can't be all that fly.

i never learned how to fly either...

That is a joke right? Fly the slang not fly as in flying.

I've heard it "bleeped out" before. Politically correct(ness) - egads.

Dire Straits...one of my FAVORITES. 'Waterline' has one of the best guitar riffs of all time and 'Sultans of Swing' is just hot(to name a couple.) I'm going to go queue up that playlist now. Seriously!

i guess there'll be no more "puff the tragic <radio edit>"

Yes.. Check out Guitar George he knows all the cords.

He only wants to make it cry and sing...