The lyrics are a direct transcription of what one of the members of the band heard from the backroom staff at a stereo store. He was there to find some new equipment, and the guys were moving stock into the showroom and snarking at the videos playing on the TVs there. Working class guys sneering at rich rock stars who get their "money for nothing". And yes, that's Sting on the chorus.
It was Mark Knopfler himself in a store in New York, 2 delivery men were commenting on the TV's that were all tuned to MTV and Mark wrote down what he heard and turned it into this song.
@@StevenQ74 Exactly, and he is using their perspective and 'voice' here, not his, guess why he changed the lyric to 'queenie' when doing it live, and now radio just deletes that whole verse unfortunately
It wasn't even a blip on the radar when they used the "f" word at the time. People knew it was wrong,but working class and uneducated folks used it all the time to indicate someone who was not hyper masculine.At least in Massachusetts anyway.😊
I was never of fan of this but I remember it being a big deal. It helped greatly to “promote MTV” in the song where MTV played it all the time. Dire Straits performed it live with Sting doing the “I want my MTV” slogan part at Live Aid.
A groundbreaking video! Dire Straits had guitar genius Mark Knopfler. Sting sings “ I want my MTV “ and harmonies with Mark in this one. Mark wasn’t trashing gays- he was repeating a conversation he overheard from envious workmen in an appliance store who were watching MTV. They were making disparaging comments about the rock videos they were watching. ❤As usual, Phenom is on top of it! ❤And that guitar intro BANGS!!!!!
"Moving TVs ain't hard." My man, do you know what them TVs were like in the 80s? They were the size of a buick and weighed more than two of me and my girl the day after Thanksgiving
It wasn’t made for MTV. He was in a furniture store and was listening to the delivery men piss and moan about the wall of TVs all showing MTV. The lyrics are what these moving guys said.
It’s about people being judgmental and pretending they could do better if they just… Did something. Nothing offensive towards gays. Even though in the 80s it was completely normal to make fun of gay people. And into the 90s gay men still got unalived at random. Although rarely.
One of the most recognizable guitar riffs of all time. Huge hit in '85 (#1 Hot 100). The song was nominated for Song of the Year and won for Best Rock Performance. The album was nominated for Album of the Year and won a Grammy for Best Engineering. (other big hits from the album were Walk of Life and So Far Away) Most of us had never seen video graphics like this before. This song was #1 for three weeks... knocked out of #1 spot by...... Ready For The World - "Oh Sheila".
It is a criticism of the Commercial aspect of the music on MTV. Music to sell products advertised on the network. When MTV started it was the ultimate commercialization of music as a means to sell, sell, sell...
This was the band actually over hearing workers in an appliance store talking amongst themselves, they probably didn't know that a popular band was in the store that heard what they were saying and going to make it into a song!
One of the first videos that they played when they first came out with MTV I just had my second baby I was 26 I think that you are misunderstanding about the word , Men that work in factories and also in construction and men that moved houses and stuff or even more truck driver that's what they would say about them men with long hair to play to get tired they said that about them
This video was so ahead of it's time! The effects and such. I completely remember this being one of the first videos on Mtv that I fell in love with. This was probably when I was 14. Guesing 1984? And it's crazy hearing the casual use of the F word lol. Gets ya cancelled nowadays lol.
We can be older.... just not naive and dwell on today's divisive ideology. MTV as they noted did stop playing it for the reason noted. Plenty from the 70s 80s some would cry to Cancel today. Words, dress, men in tights and aspects of makeup, perms that you know who would be up in arms today when we look back and see many of their videos even some live shows. Sensitive takes sooo many forms even by those religious who canceled for decades and forced filters still to this day vs say Europe even and what they can show on TV.
@@davidw7I also remember back in the 70s and 80s they were TV shows like Benny Hill they were aired on public television that are banned today. I remember the whole family watching we loved it! Censorship in the 80s and 90s was a huge problem and still it's today. In our society now is super oversensitive! Somebody else was talking about how this guy was saying moving TVs isn't hard which he doesn't seem to remember that we didn't have flat screen TVs. I still have one from 89 and I have to pay to have two people or more come and pick it up because I can't move it. It has its own stand with the huge back on the backside. 😆 Off-topic, and reminds me of the waterbeds who remembers those? 🤣😆😆
Like sultans another song based off a band members experience. One in a london pub, one in a furniture store. And at the time some pretty cutting edge computer animation
The song is in third person. Mark Knopfler is ridiculing the characters singing in the song. He’s quoting these guys exposing their ignorance and prejudice.
This song is awesome. Probably my second favorite Dire Straits song. That guitar riff makes the song. I’ve never heard anyone call it “trash” though. I don’t see it as any less quality than Sultans of Swing. It’s a different sound, but it’s still among the great classic rock songs of all time. But hey, not everyone has to like it. 🤷♂️
This is a very cool song, one of my fav Dire Straits song! Pretty sure this was the very 1st video played in the UK when MTV was first aired in England.
Yeah, in August 87. 1st of August, I think. We got it in our house about a month or two later. The first video i remember seeing was crazy nights, from kiss.
And while the word used is solely a slur today when the song was written it depended on context. For its time it's not intended in a derogatory way, almost admiring the good hussle the rockstars have getting millions for doing very little
1) A time when MTv played music video and this video was on heavy rotation. 2) first all digital recording, mixing, mastering and thus 3) if you had a 3.1 or 5.1 surround sound system this song was awesome 4) headphones don't do it justice 5) and thank you for returning to my 16 year old self in 1987.
Exactly. The build-up at the beginning is much longer and builds a lot more tension before the opening riff, and the extended guitar solo later on is phenomenal.
People need to learn context. I'm a gay man (obviously I don't speak for anyone but myself ) and I never was offended by the original lyrics. The band isn't insulting the LGBTQ+ community. They're playing the roles of disgruntled blue collar workers upset about having to work so hard, spewing resentment about their misconception that rock stars have it easy. They're exactly the type of guys who just throw out epithets without even thinking what they mean. They just know they're angry about working too hard for too little money. It's realistic. We can't just erase history and what we we're subjected to. This no different than Republicans trying to erase Black history from textbooks and books written decades ago so that their kids (but really the parents) don't learn about how badly slaves were treated. Erasing history is never a good idea. It's important for new generations to understand the struggles and cruelty previous generations endured, how we fought back, and how there's still a long, rough road ahead.
I remember being in my playpen as a toddler, totally transfixed by the CGI at the beginning. This is truly my earliest memory of a music video (my sister was much older and addicted to MTV in the 80's lol) And yeah.. the slur is in it.. but the context is that its being said by the workers who think musicians are "that" because they dont have to do "hard work" for a living.
That guitar riff ROCKS. It's so funky and cool. And when I first heard the song in 1985, I absolutely loved the humor of the lyrics. I didn't even know back then that the lyrics were actually overheard; I just thought he was making it up and it was still hilarious to me.
Written by Mark Knopfler and Sting. Same chords as Synchronicity, which was written by Sting. Recorded and released in 1985. Same year when Sting was a guest for a Phil Collins song and still had time to record and release his first solo album 💿. Sting was busy as a bee 🐝! L 🤣L The Live Aid version, same year, was epic 🙌. Suggested videos 📹: 1 Dire Straits perform Walk of Life 2 Phil Collins and Sting perform Take Me Home 🏡 3 Sting sings Be Still My Beating Heart 💓
The language isn't coming from the POV of a musician. It's a rough working class character observing musicians. Mark doesn't need to 'learn to play the guitar' as he clearly has that figured out. IOW's Mark Knopfler and his band are being derided as soft and unmanly while at the same time being envied for stardom.
I have a Dire Straits song for you that is different from Sultans and Money For Nothing. I have been wanting to recommend this song for a little while so this is the perfect opportunity. The song is Twistin' By The Pool. Some people like it, some people hate it and some people don't care one way or the other.
The young guy didn’t get it and had a scowl on his face from the very beginning despite listening to one of the GOAT riffs. Sack him, guys; he’s too miserable for words. He’s definitely above average for boredom.
the context of this song is everything along with the guitar riff. Mark goes into an appliance store and a guy comes up to him while a motley crew video is on. The guy starts in with all the dialogue that you find in the lyrics and Mark immediately ran to get a piece of paper and pen and it all down. They wanted Sting to do that part and make it sound like “Don’t stand so close to me .” As luck has it , Sting was at a studio they were recording at . Rest is history. Sultans of Swing is one of my favorite songs of all time. This song is great too when understanding how it was written.
When Sting sings "I want my MTV:" which was from the marketing to get people to call their cable Co and ask them to add MTV when it first started. Did you notice it is a slowed down version of The Police's "Don't Stand So Close to Me".
Here's a few more from Dire Straits: 👉 "Tunnel of Love" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gAirINwjaxE.htmlsi=y54INAdQATTP__h4 👉 "Romeo & Juliet" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rC95MEenIxA.htmlsi=sl_QN623pQjjfwyd This one's from their 1980 album Making Movies and was inspired by Mark Knopfler's failed relationship with singer Holly Vincent. He still loved her, but felt that she was only using him to further her music career. Beautiful guitar on this one! 👉 "Walk of Life" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kd9TlGDZGkI.htmlsi=hIJ1tofVFBwIbKfI
It was a comment on the impact of MTV; on the new delivery of music and how musicians are perceived.As two successful veterans of the music industry, they created it as a parody. This is the reason for the overly pop sound.
Mark Knopfler was in L.A. & overheard two delivery men bitching about their jobs & he sat and listened. A little if the lyrics are from those delivery dudes, so it's authentic American tale, from some English guys
This was my summer song in the 80s. Sting was the voice of the main MTV commercials singing I want my MTV.bso it was echoing the commercials. The word Fa-git was the taboo word of that time.
Bro, you try moving a 50-inch rear projection monstrosity around. Back then, TVs were ENORMOUS, and at the sizes we're accustomed to today, moving then around was back-breaking labor.
"Dire Straits - Once Upon A Time In The West (Alchemy; Live ~ High Quality)" (channel: Max Jansson)" --This song by Dire Straits was released on their second studio album called "Communique" released in 1979. The album peaked at number #11 on the Billboard 200 Chart and spent 21 weeks there on the charts. Here's a basic understanding of what this song I've suggested is about. At its heart it is about the erosion of values, the pace of change, and the challenges we as a society face in the modern world. It's a mix of cautionary tale, and observant commentary. The song points to how people move recklessly through life while others set on the fence and do nothing to stop them, as explained with the lyrics (breaking up the speed limit) and the inevitable consequences which is in the following lyrics "Even a Hero Gets A Bullet in the Chest) which explains that even heroes can get hurt and there are many problems in the world. Enjoyed rocking with you fellas. Thanks for sharing.
At the time it was common to hear that term. Times change. Thank God! It's a great song tho. They did change the lyrics so you can check out the revised version.
Mark Knopfler was the driving force behind Dire Straits. After the group split up, Mark went his own way. If you want to hear Mark at his creative best, listen to the full Pennsylvania album. Even though Mark is an Englishman, he understands America perfectly, and it comes through in each song on this album. Your ears will be rewarded, and your hearts warmed.
I'm sorry but delivering colour cathode ray televisions back in the day was not easy. You should try carrying a set up 8 flights of stairs and then doing it another 7 times on your own
It’s not exactly that they were trying to fit in to the eighties it was more of a satire on the eighties and MTV and the music videos. A lot of acts didn’t like doing music videos at first or at all. Some did it because their labels pressured them to to promote their music. The use of the word that is controversial is part of the satire. Censoring the word takes away from the satirical experience and doesn’t have the same experience or effect. This doesn’t mean that it’s okay to actually call someone that it’s just that censorship is also bad and can lead to the loss of knowledge if someone is offended by the use of words or pictures that might not be what some people like.
The little pha got got his own jet airplane the little pha got is a millionaire assuming that is what people were saying about Michael Jackson at that time because of his mega success
Preface this comment by stating I'm GAY. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the lyrics, back then they were written and not now. You have to look at the story line and understand the cultural references.
It has a story fantastic to dance and let your hair down. Sultan's of Swing has a story too. I love the fact the lyric's are about actual personal event's.
