For those other than the two fans who normally read my column, you might note that one of my favourite topics relates to the freedom of speech and the nemesis of that, known as "political correctness".
This topic was raised in a most peculiar way last week by one of my all-time favourite bands, Dire Straits, for (now get this) a song they released before any of my children were born, back in the mists of time, Anno Domini 1985 . My oldest "kid", who is now married and is almost 22 years old, also likes Dire Straits, even though as a teen she used to denounce it as "old" music (probably because this song was made four years before she was born).
Anyway, for some very strange reason that defies all logic and reason, the song managed to not offend anyone until recently, when someone heard or read the lyrics and was deeply offended. After complaining, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council said this song, "Money for Nothing", was banned from being played on Canadian airwaves, even though it has been played millions upon millions of times since its release in 1985.
And why? Well, there is a naughty word, faggot, used a couple times in it.
Taken out of context, this seems to be a very derogatory term you'd be surprised to hear in a rock song, but what you should do is actually read the lyrics for the entire song. You see, the song (for those country fans out there who've never heard it) is a satire; it's the rant of a blue-collar working stiff on the music industry. Basically, they're sitting around trying to sell microwave ovens and refrigerators, and they see super-rich musicians cavorting around on music videos and making literally millions of dollars, and they're going, "That ain't work, that's the way you do it: (you get) money for nothin'." (Thus the title of the song.)
So, during this rant, they ridicule this one musician as a "faggot", saying he's a millionaire and doesn't even have to work for it.
What's really stupid about this scenario, besides the fact the song's been around for a quarter-century, is there are far worse lyrics that nobody complains about or gets offended over. As the band's keyboardist said when told of this ban, probably three-quarters of the songs played in Canada should be banned then.
Do we want massive censorship like that? Absolutely not, because then you'd be throwing out truly great music along with those that might "offend" you. I know this sounds weird - but I think what we need is to be a whole lot less sensitive to words, but sensitive to each other as human beings.
