Dire Straits Censored! What?!?!

[blues.bass]

TORONTO - Canada's broadcast standards council has ruled that Dire Straits' 1985 hit Money for Nothing should be censored because of a homosexual slur in its lyrics.

The council said the British band's use of a slur referring to gay people three times in the song breaches the national broadcasters' code of ethics. The council said an edited version of the song could be played.

Read the full article here:

http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/world/news...699691&ref=rss

[gjbassist]

Wow, only took them 25 years to reach that conclusion. Must be a brilliant bunch of people!
If they listened to the entire song maybe they would figure out that it is intended to make fun of the uptight people who would use that word and not homosexuals.

[bass_lord_mutha]

"The council said it realised Dire Straits used the word sarcastically when the best-selling Brothers in Arms album was released in 1985, but said it was inappropriate."

So they know DS didn't mean anything derogatory, they're just mad that they used the word, period? People as a whole have become ultra-sensitive to anything said, whether it means one thing or another. Reminds me of one little kid calling another little kid "doo doo head" and that kid crying to his mommy. PEOPLE NEED TO GROW UP!!! They need to look beyond the word and pay attention to the whole sentence(s) and what contexts it was used in. Yes, the word in question is a nasty word, but come on, they need to use their brain and figure out what message they were putting through, not just the fact that they said the word. Sheesh, talk about 'chickification'....too sensitive.

[xed]

US radio stations cut out that entire verse years ago. (almost can say "decades" ago) I think I've only ever heard the real version on college radio late at night.

[Oric]

they should censor dire straits for being boring

[4001]

Hypersensive, over-reacting PC types should be banned.

[ggunn]

I felt the same way when I saw Blazing Saddles on the Comedy Channel.

[Bassmickeyd]

There was a time, not that long ago, we could laugh at ourselves and the world around us but that has changed. ..... White people are worried about the N.-word. ..... Straight people are worried about the F.-word. ....... What the heck is that all about. ...... The perception of the world has become SO 'important'. ..... What we do and what we think doesn't matter. ..... But what THEY do and what THEY think seems to be more important. ...

[whocaresnotme]

Originally Posted by 4001

Hypersensive, over-reacting PC types should be banned.

Much more than PC hypersensitivity!! Do we all know now that there is really NO freedom of speech in Canada? How many words or phrases does the government have to ban before freedom of speech no longer exists?

[Jazz Ad]

Meh.
Les Boys do cabaret.
Les Boys are glad to be gay.

[Stingray5]

"The decision was made after a radio listener complained about the song last year."

And there it is..

[John Bigboote]

We added this song to our setlist a couple of months ago. Just before our first gig playing it last month, I asked the guitarist/singer what he thought about dropping that verse or modifying it, lest we risk offending. He said he'd been playing it for years without any complaint. Freedom of artistic expression is great, but I wouldn't want to lose a gig over it, no matter how stupid that would be.

FWIW, I have the "Money for Nothing" greatest hits CD, and it omits the verse altogether.

-jb

[michael_atw]

Originally Posted by Bassmickeyd

There was a time, not that long ago, we could laugh at ourselves and the world around us but that has changed. ..... White people are worried about the N.-word. ..... Straight people are worried about the F.-word. ....... What the heck is that all about. ...... The perception of the world has become SO 'important'. ..... What we do and what we think doesn't matter. ..... But what THEY do and what THEY think seems to be more important. ...

I'm not really sure what you're getting at. I don't worry about either of those words because I don't use them - nor should I need to. Why would I be worried about it?

What, sometime in the 1950's people could go around shouting n____ and f____ and not have to worry about the offended people airing out their offense? That's all I'm getting from your post.

"What we do and what we think doesn't matter" "But what they do and what they think seems to be more important". Not sure how this applies...but what other people think should be more important. Freedom doesn't exist selfishly - it exists equally to protect everyone else's freedom. Selfless living is living empathetically - understanding where that other person is coming from.


But I digress. Back to the OP topic - when it comes to the Dire Straits song I think it's silly due to the context. Of course, if it was derogatory that would be different but the problem with people is someone actually has to take initiative to understand why it's in there. But of course, people ignorantly and often times idiotically take stuff out of context all the time.

[duff beer]

And yet the "N" word is still acceptable in (c)rap...

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by blues.bass

TORONTO - Canada's broadcast standards council has ruled that Dire Straits' 1985 hit Money for Nothing should be censored because of a homosexual slur in its lyrics.

The council said the British band's use of a slur referring to gay people three times in the song breaches the national broadcasters' code of ethics. The council said an edited version of the song could be played.

Read the full article here:

http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/world/news...699691&ref=rss

it wasn't that long ago when vice squad detectives were sent to movie theaters to watch films deemed obscene,and file charges on the owners....these were not porn dives,but first run theaters......censors in ontario regularly chopped up films which affected the rest of the country.........this stuff is nothing new in canookistan...

[cableguy]

Can I still say Canuck? After all they are ny favorite hockey team.

[Floyd Eye]

Originally Posted by xed

US radio stations cut out that entire verse years ago. (almost can say "decades" ago) I think I've only ever heard the real version on college radio late at night.

Not around here. I've never heard an edited version.

[michael_atw]

Originally Posted by Floyd Eye

Not around here. I've never heard an edited version.

Me neither. Not that I hear it on the radio often, but I never remember it.

One thing I do here edited occasionally is "Money" by Pink Floyd...but only on some stations, and not on others. Usually the "workplace music" stations will edit songs much more often than the rock stations who they are bad*** about it.

[Bassmickeyd]

michael_atw
"I'm not really sure what you're getting at."

We've turned into a society that gets little sound bites of information that come with a commentary and conclusion just before a TV commercial tells us we need to see that news in 3D and hear that commentary in Hi Def.
We weren't better or worse off 25-years ago when Dire Straits released that song but we were more secure about ourselves and less afraid of what some thing might or might not mean.
That's all I was saying.

[Bassmickeyd]

Originally Posted by cableguy

Can I still say Canuck? After all they are my favorite hockey team.

Sure you can but I'll see you in court.
LOL