Dire Straits Song to Be Censored in Canada
Canada has a separate court of “Human Rights” that carries the full weight of the law. It is essentially a court that has the power to squelch any free speech that speaks out against islam or homosexuality. Now a different government organization is taking cues from the court of human rights and has decided that some songs should not be on the air. The Dire Straits song “Money for Nothin'” will not be allowed to play on Canadian airwaves without it being censored to bleep out the word “faggot.”
From Reuters here:
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.
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.
One guy in a beaurocratic position sets the rules for everybody in Canada when it comes to speech. And who the hell listens to a 25 year old song and decides to have it banned? Some gay guy who likes to put cock in his mouth I bet. This unnamed guy probably has anonymous gay trysts in bathrooms at highway rest stops, and yet he finds a rock song offensive.
This isn’t about that song. Banning Money For Nothing Won’t Hurt Dire Straights. But by doing this, this is their message to future artists, a way of saying, if you want airplay in Canada, you better watch what you say.