The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council may have banned the uncensored version of Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” from the airwaves because of that “little faggot with the earring and the make-up” line, but that’s not going to stop Halifax rock station Q104 from capitalizing on the censorship playing the song, on a loop, for an entire hour. Calling the CBSC’s decision a “tragic error in judgment” that will lead to a “slippery slope to censorship,” programming director J.C. Douglas is even inviting some queers to the studio for the listening party. Over in Edmonton, classic rock station K-97 will also be hosting a marathon. Does that mean the stations will immediately incur a fine? Nope. A listener must first complain to the CBSC for it to launch an investigation. And really, don’t you have better things to do? Like pirate music?
Benjamin
If I lived there I’d file a complaint. I never could stand that shitty song.
Kev C
It would be interesting to see if any incidents of homophobia (vandalism, bashings) occur as a result of anger about the banning. I hope not but I’m not an angry canadian rocker.
thankfully
Franky
Lines get censored from songs all the time. It actually annoys me more to have moments of silence or beeps where lyrics should be than the song would in it’s uncensored form. If I don’t want to hear a song I’m more than capable of changing the station. Or putting on a CD or hooking up my iPod. There are quite a few options…
jason
Would JC Douglas allow his station to play a song that said “that ugly cunt with the long black hair”? The mere fact that he’s invited “the gays” proves that he’s a moron.
Danny
Canada has gay marriage all across the country, gay soldiers are allowed to serve openly, human rights protections, hate crime protections, AND standards. Go Canada.
JM
@Danny Cheers, eh!
@Jason The fact that he invited “the gays” means he cares more about censorship than being bitchslapped by a queer with a martini glass. Which would be me, if I didn’t think censorship will be an even bigger issue than gay rights soon in Canada. Fuck censorship. If laws ban hateful speech, then they will also have to ban any rebuttals to hateful speech (like calling Anne Coulter a fucking smelly cunt), and then society will stall and stagnate, wallowing in only the “approved” discourse. I like my freedom more than I like not being offended for being myself.
@Franky Exactly the reason why in the US, the FCC only requires censorship of curse words on public radio/television/etc. As ashamed as I am to say this… does anyone know if there is a Canuck equivalent?
nineinchnail
This whole case is quite ridiculous. I hate the word queer but my peers call themselves by this name all the time. Its like the “N” word, why do some African Americans calls themselves such an awful name?
GeriHew
a “tragic error in judgment” indeed it is.
Anyone who thinks Money For Nothing is a homophobic song is completely missing the whole point of the song.
Craig
Regarding “Anyone who thinks Money For Nothing is a homophobic song is completely missing the whole point of the song.” That may be the case, but Im busy, Im not sure I have time to establish the entire meaning of the song. I bet most people are the same. I just know that in my ignorance, when I hear that homophobic-sounding line, I feel a twinge of pain and a sense that gays are being disrespected – a sense most people probably feel.
Kev C
If someone really needs to hear the uncensored version of a song, buy it, download it, but it doesn’t need to be on the public airwaves. Shock jock radio like Q104 is such a load of crap anyway.
GeriHew
@Craig: It’s probably true that a lot of people are too stupid to get the obvious irony of the song but I doubt that most people are.
But if you really want to show how stupid you are don’t stop at claiming a few lines of the song are homophobic – what about the implied racism of “Banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee”? and the absurdly envious sexism of “Get your money for nothing and your chicks for free”?
The whole lyric is based on the inanely bigoted chatter of an absolute oath. You can’t make the song PC by bleeping out one or two words. Just ban the whole damn song if you can’t stand the horrible truth it has to tell you.
GeriHew
I meant absolute oaf, not oath, of course.
Comixbear
Money For Nothing, Mark Twain….Get the feeling that people are focusing too much on what was said in the past rather than what is happening in the present?
jason
The simple fact is that faggot is a slur. A slur is a slur. Putting it into song celebrates it. That’s what songs do – they celebrate something, whether love or whatever. Dire Straits should know better than to spread a slur. It’s Nazi-like.
I actually sent some messages to Guy Fletcher, a member of Dire Straits since 1984. You can see those messages on Guy’s website under the “forum” section. Just type “Guy Fletcher” into google and it will take you there. My posts are under the name “jason smedley”. I accused Dire Straits of coming very close to Nazi-like actions.
They deserve it. Don’t feel any sympathy for them.
jason
For those who can’t be bothered googling, here’s a direct link to the Guy Fletcher’s forum. Guy has been in the band for the last 26 years, so he’s been an integral part of their huge success. My posts are under jason smedley. There’s a number of them so scroll down. There should be about 10 or 11 messages there that I posted in total. I received a lot of criticism from others, including Guy, but I don’t resile from my position.
jason
Linke here:
http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/index.php/page/Forum
Gary B.
Context. Context. Context.
Yeah, the word taken on its own is offensive, but this is just PC stupidity going on here.
First of all, the song is 25 years old. Why now?
Secondly – context. Look at the way its used in the song. It could almost be used as an expression of gay empowerment if people decided to take it that way.
And this is Canada – gay marriage, gays in the military, etc. Obviously there’s widespread LGBT acceptance there. I think people who are offended by that line have way too much time on their hands.
Sean F.
People still listen to the radio?!
GeriHew
@jason: You really come across as typifying the sort of person that Brits shake their heads about when they say “Americans have no sense of irony”.
The oaf in Money For Nothing is jealous of the “little faggot with the earring and the make-up” because this girly guy on MTV is getting a lot more chicks than he is.
This:
“The standards council ruled on Wednesday a radio station in St. John’s, breached the council’s ethics code by playing an unedited version of the Grammy-winning hit that describes a homosexual man as a faggot. The censored version replaces the offending term with “mother.”
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Dire+Straits+member+decries+CBSC+ruling/4113169/story.html#ixzz1BIaq73GE
is unbelievable. Where in the song does it say the “little faggot with the earring and the make-up” is a homosexual man? Have these morons never heard of glam rock? And “mother” i.e.”motherfucker” is supposed to be less offensive than faggot?
And I hope this is a joke:
In a message on his web-site Guy Fletcher said the song’s writer, Mark Knopfler, will now substitute the word “fudger” for “faggot” for use on Canadian airwaves.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Dire+Straits+member+decries+CBSC+ruling/4113169/story.html#ixzz1BIcBIO7u
because fudge packer is British slang for a man who tops in anal intercourse – i.e. a queer man.
Kev C
I think the problem lies with the fact that one group are packing fudge, while the other group are unpacking and moving it. Diametric opposites.