10 Rock Songs That Have NOT Aged Well
9. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits (1985)
Who doesn't love Dire Straits? It doesn't get much better than Mark Knopfler cavorting around stage, sweatband around his brow, smoking jacket rolled up to the elbows, as he busts out some smooth rock n' roll.
No other Dire Straits song grabs you quite like Money For Nothing. That opening guitar riff is deliciously satisfying, and you can't help but get swept up in the songs jaunty energy. But there's a particular lyric that really clangs. First you think you might have miss heard it, but no, the offending word drops another two times - and then there's no pretending.
One line reads, "See the little f**got with the earring and the make up". The use of the homophobic slur has been explained by Knopfler in the past. The lyrics were written from the perspective of a snobby, chauvinistic businessman. The entire song is sung in character, with the lyrics being directed at Knopfler himself.
The explanation makes the inclusion of the word seem somewhat less egregious, though it's not something we'd expect to hear in this day and age. After Knopfler received some backlash, he replaced the word with 'queenie' during live shows.