"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits and its many parodies.

SpongeBobfan1987

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I would like to discuss the song "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits and all of its parodies. Yes, you heard right! This song has multiple parodies.

Here's the original by Dire Straits:


Here's "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" by "Weird Al" Yankovic:


Here's "Monkeys for Uncles" by ApologetiX:


Here's a political parody by PolitiZoid:
 

spongedude

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I've only ever seen the Weird Al parody (and, to be frank, I won't waste my time with the others).

What's interesting to me is that nowadays when the song comes on the radio, they censor the second verse (eg., "that little ::dolphin noise:: with the earring and the make-up") which, along with the abridged opening (the studio version vamps up for about 1:35 before the guitar kicks in; the radio edit generally cuts the foreplay and hits the guitar within the first 30 seconds) severely shortens the song.

I mean, I understand the censorship of a homosexual slur in today's gun-shy society, but I've personally taken it on the same level as the "don't give me that goody-good bull****" line from Pink Floyd's "Money" (which has always aired uncensored). The lyric is true to the way people spoke, even if you don't like it - and it should go without saying that just because you enjoy listening to the uncensored song doesn't mean you endorse the POV therein.

In fact, "Money for Nothing" is probably one of Dire Straits most misunderstood songs. It was not written as an expression of the band's feelings, but rather a "slice-of-life" bit, in the words of an appliance salesman that frontman Mark Knopfler had come across. This is what Mark had to say about it way back in 1985:

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. The singer in "Money for Nothing" is a real ignoramus, hard hat mentality – somebody who sees everything in financial terms. I mean, this guy has a grudging respect for rock stars. He sees it in terms of, well, that's not working and yet the guy's rich: that's a good scam. He isn't sneering.

And just for the record, Mark Knopfler himself is one of the greatest guitarists, and one of the most fundamentally decent men in all of rock 'n' roll. Dire Straits has a lot more tunes than "Money for Nothing," and since 1995 Mark Knopfler has had an excellent solo career - I encourage you all to check them out, if you're into roots rock and real musicianship. I had the opportunity to watch him in concert back in 2012, and it was perhaps the single best live set I've ever attended - he and his band are simply excellent musicians. :cool:

EDIT:
To prove my point, here is a live version of "Telegraph Road," a song which many fans consider to be the best song in Dire Straits' catalog. This predates the "Money for Nothing"/"Brothers in Arms" record by a few years, and shows that they were much more than a one-hit wonder ("Sultans of Swing," "Walk of Life," "Brothers in Arms" were large hits as well - just to name a few).

 
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