"Money for Nothing" is a song by British rock band Dire Straits, the second track on their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms (1985).

The song's lyrics are written from the point of view of two working-class men watching music videos and commenting on what they see.

The song features a guest appearance by Sting who sings the signature falsetto introduction, background vocals and a backing chorus of "I want my MTV".

[6] Mark Knopfler described the writing of the song in a 1985 interview with critic Bill Flanagan: The lead character in "Money for Nothing" is a guy who works in the hardware department in a television/​custom kitchen/​refrigerator/​microwave appliance store.

Knopfler said that standing next to him, watching the TVs, there was a male employee, dressed in a baseball cap, work boots, and a checkered shirt, who was delivering boxes.

[7] The first-person narrator in the lyrics describes a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a woman "stickin' in the camera - Man, we could have some fun".

In the second verse, the performer is described as "that little faggot with the earring and the make-up", and the narrator bemoans that these artists get "Money for nothing and chicks for free".

"[11] Sting elaborated on his co-writing credit in a 1987 interview: Mark [Knopfler] asked me to go in the studio and sing this line, "I want my MTV."

So I did it, and thought nothing of it, until my publishers, Virgin - who I've been at war with for years and who I have no respect for - decided that was a song they owned, 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'.

According to him, the song originally began with the guitar riff, and then he developed the intro on keyboards and sang "I want my MTV" on top during a break in rehearsals for the album.

The video also includes stage footage of Dire Straits performing, with partially rotoscoped animation in bright neon colours, as seen on the cover of the compilation album of the same name.

Knopfler performed "Money for Nothing" during the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute and the Prince's Trust concerts in 1986 with Sting,[21] as well as the Nordoff-Robbins charity show at Knebworth in 1990.

[27] In a late 1985 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler expressed mixed feelings on the controversy: I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London – he actually said it was below the belt.

[28]When examined in context, Knopfler is mocking the jealous and homophobic nature of the antagonist in the song by adopting a third-person point of view to show the irony, bigotry, and ignorance of the character.

[citation needed] For the band's 10 July 1985 concert (televised in the United Kingdom on The Tube on Channel 4 in January 1986[31]), Knopfler replaced the word faggot with queenie:[original research?]

"When the song was included in the 1998 compilation Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, a censored version was used, which completely omitted the second verse.

[32][33][34] The CBSC concluded that "like other racially driven words in the English language, 'faggot' is one that, even if entirely or marginally acceptable in earlier days, is no longer so.

[32][35] Not all stations followed this ruling; at least two—CIRK-FM in Edmonton, Alberta,[36] and CFRQ-FM in Halifax, Nova Scotia[37]—played the unedited version of "Money for Nothing" repeatedly for one hour out of protest.

The 1983 Gibson Les Paul Standard reissue guitar Knopfler played on the song sold for £592,200 in a Christie's auction in London that included a total of 122 lots.