dire straits = censored!

[meggo]

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/01/12/16865021.html

never thought i'd be posting a link to the sun, but there you go...

i'm usually a huge proponent of GLBTQ2 rights, but this one isn't so black & white to me. still forming an opinion. trying to decide if it's akin to the school of thought that wants to ban 'to kill a mockingbird' from schools b/c it uses the 'n' word. perhaps it's different. thoughts?

Classic rock song censored for its lyrics

By BRIAN LILLEY, Parliamentary Bureau

Last Updated: January 12, 2011 8:30pm

OTTAWA - It may be classic rock but the song Money for Nothing by Dire Straits will either have to be edited or not played in its original form after a decision by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

After a complaint from a listener to OZ-FM in Newfoundland who heard the song at 9:15 at night, the CBSC ruled that Money for Nothing, a radio staple since 1985, violates the code of ethics on several fronts due to the use of the word "faggot."

The songs second verse contains the offensive word three times.

"The little faggot with the earring and the makeup"

"Yeah, buddy, that’s his own hair"

"That little faggot’s got his own jet airplane"

"That little faggot, he’s a millionaire"

The decision here in Canada comes as Americans are embroiled in a debate over censoring the literary classic Huckleberry Finn.

The book by Mark Twain was a scathing examination of racism when it appeared in 1885 and makes frequent use of then common words such as "n-----" and "Injun" to refer to a Native American character. A publisher has proposed releasing a new version of the work replacing the words with "slave" and "Indian."

The CBSC, which has essentially banned the full-length version of Money for Nothing, is a self-governing regulatory body for Canada's private broadcasters. Decisions on content by the council are binding on members.

One classic rock station contacted by QMI Agency said that most likely they will stop playing the song now.

There is a shorter version of the song with the offensive words removed but classic rock buffs contacted by QMI Agency said changing the lyrics killed the song.

None of the radio personnel contacted would comment on the record for fear of the impact it could have if they appeared before the council.

Money for Nothing is not the first song the CBSC has censored. The decision on Money for Nothing references an earlier decision on the song Boyz in the Hood by Dynamite Hack, which was deemed to have lyrics which were too violent towards women.

One broadcast executive who asked not to be named said the council's decisions are all over the map, pointing out that similar words have been ruled acceptable in other cases.

Another executive said that while the CBSC comes down hard on what is considered offensive language in songs, similar language can be used in television.

A review of rulings posted on the CBSC website shows that several complaints on language, such as blatant swearing or the use of the name Jesus Christ as an expletive, have been ruled acceptable.

The CBSC rules on both radio and television broadcast complaints.

[rubberdinghy]

OMG

Damn Newfies

[Booche]

It's a character watching MTV in the mid-80's. Jesusfuck. Next thing you know they are going to complain about the use of the term "yo-yo's".

I say GFY to the CBSC.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I heard the use of 'Hullabaloo' the other day in prime time and I was mortified

[AD]

It's been bleeped or replaced with 'mother' on radio for a long time, as well as the original. Dumb decision, but the reaction has been blown way out of proportion too.

[Velvet]

The CBSC is so gay.

[Velvet]

Really though, I think this whole movement, from this to Huck Finn to taking the WTC out of older films, is a temporary fashion; a passing fancy with permanent results, and as such it should be resisted on all fronts.

In 100 years will people still be changing pieces of their popular culture every time someone gets offended? I think not, yet that generation will look back on ours and see a whole period of meddling with history.

Basically, in the future people will have forgotten that Han Solo shot first in the cantina on Tatooine, and that's a shame because for good or for ill that's how it really went down.

[Booche]

This is next.

[meggo]

Really though, I think this whole movement, from this to Huck Finn to taking the WTC out of older films, is a temporary fashion; a passing fancy with permanent results, and as such it should be resisted on all fronts.

In 100 years will people still be changing pieces of their popular culture every time someone gets offended? I think not, yet that generation will look back on ours and see a whole period of meddling with history.

Basically, in the future people will have forgotten that Han Solo shot first in the cantina on Tatooine, and that's a shame because for good or for ill that's how it really went down.

i tend to agree with you V. i think most people understand that people said things 25+ years ago that aren't acceptable to say now, like the way you don't make a big deal when your grandparents say something kind of horrific. another case in point is the huck finn situation as you mentioned. let it be, i think if anything we can learn from it.

[Blurry]

I don't think censoring the word "faggot" out of a song is such a bad thing.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Guest

[ollie]

Mark Knopfler is singing in character. Better remove "faggot" from all the movies too.

[Northern Wish]

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Am I going to have to give the bundle of sticks I keep in the shed a new name now?

[fluffhead77]

Am I going to have to give the bundle of sticks I keep in the shed a new name now?

Well if you don't feed him, of course he's going to look like a bundle of sticks. Geez, dave...

[boiler]

There's way more controversial art out there that doesn't get censored. Controversy brings about public discourse, which is a good thing, in a free society. Art almost should be controversial. Leave it how it was meant to be. I think Knopfler was probably very aware of what he was doing.

That being said, sometimes artists can be wrong and can "correct" their lyrics ie. Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. But shouldn't that be up to the artist themself to change the art?

Lightfoot's hit 1976 song about the sinking, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, includes the verse: "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya.'"

But for the last couple of weeks in concert in the U.S., and again on Thursday night during his Canadian tour launch at Casino Rama, Lightfoot has been singing: "At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said, 'Fellas it's been good to know ya.""

In an exclusive interview with QMI Agency backstage after his Casino Rama show, Lighfoot said: "I can't use the hatch cover line anymore. And the whole verse was really conjecture right from start to finish anyway. It's the only verse in the whole song where I give myself complete poetic licence."

Lightfoot also praised the documentary for answering a lot of questions about the sinking.

"It absolves some of the deckhands who were in charge of those hatch covers because I've been in touch with these people for years," he said. "The mother and the daughter of two of the deck guys who would have been in charge of that have always cringed every time they've heard the line. And they will be very pleased. And they know about it and they're very happy about it."

[Velvet]

Shouldn't Mick Jagger change his lyrics now that he can get some satisfaction?

These are songs, that's how they go, that's how they should stay.

I know a good many people that no longer "believe" in A Flock Of Seagulls who would happily go back and change their yearbook photos, but that's what you were then, it's a picture of you from then.

[Hal Johnson]

Krusty the Clown: Now, boys, the network has a problem with some of your lyrics. Do you mind changing them for the show?

Anthony Kiedis: Forget you, clown.

Chad Smith: Yeah, our lyrics are like our children, man. No way.

Krusty the Clown: Well, okay, but here where it says, "What I got you gotta get and put it in ya," how about just, "What I'd like is I'd like to hug and kiss ya."

Flea: Wow. That's much better.

Arik Marshall: Everyone can enjoy that.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

1IFloXOuLgA

[ollie]

Shouldn't Mick Jagger change his lyrics now that he can get some satisfaction?

It's interesting to note that the Stones self-censor some of their own songs when they play them live these days. They don't sing the "black girl" line in Brown Sugar and Some Girls was completely butchered in the Shine A Light movie. The latter in particular suffers from the lyrical change, completely taking the teeth out of it and rendering it pointless.

[Schwa.]

People still listen to the radio?

Taking a song off the radio these days is like telling me you're going to remove the snappy jingle from an annoying commercial. I hate corporate radio and so don't give a shit if they took a song off for whatever reason.

[meggo]

dude.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/13/f-rfa-macdonald.html

[hamilton]

One radio station has decided to defy the ban.

‘Money for Nothing’ marathon brings complaints

A Halifax radio station that defied a ruling against a Dire Straits hit by playing a “Money for Nothing†marathon said Monday it's heard from some listeners who've threatened to lodge complaints.

An unedited version of the song was played repeatedly on Q104 for an hour on Friday to protest against a recent decision by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

The independent watchdog ruled the 25-year-old song was unfit for Canadian radio because its lyrics include three times a derogatory word that is sometimes used against gays. The ruling stemmed from a complaint filed by a listener of a station in St. John's, Nfld.

J.C. Douglas, program director at Q104, said a few listeners have sent emails saying they intend to file a complaint with the council, while other listeners told him they have already done so.

Others have written merely to say they're unhappy with the station's decision to continue playing the tune, which Douglas said the station usually plays every two or three days.

“It's a fairly straightforward argument that's being made in most of these complaints — just that the word ‘faggot’ itself is damaging and hurtful and has no place on the airwaves,†Douglas said in an interview.

“And we can't help but agree with that from a general standpoint. Our argument is completely contextual.â€

Douglas maintains the song, which was released in 1985, is written from the perspective of a bigot and needs to be considered as such.

“Every single word of this song comes from (the character's) point of view, so if you're not considering that context, then you're not actually listening to the song.â€

The “Money for Nothing†ban applies to every Canadian radio station.

Ron Cohen, national chairman of the CBSC, said Friday that the council wouldn't take action against any stations airing the unedited version of the song unless another listener complained. He did not immediately return calls Monday for comment.

Douglas said most of the feedback the station has received has been positive, adding that about a dozen people said they plan to contact the council and ask for a review of its decision.

The council does not have its own internal appeals mechanism. However, according to its website, the public can request that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission review a council decision.

The Canadian Press

Link

[AD]

The “Money for Nothing†ban applies to every Canadian radio station.

That's not quite true. It only applies to stations that hold 'membership' in the CBSC.

[phishtaper]

most press the band has had in years.