I was always wondering why this song seemed to slip beneath the radar.

When lead singer Mark Knopfler belts out the lyrics to this song, I’ve always found them hard to understand.  Then again, I recently figured out that he’s actually saying “Hawaii noises” in the lyrics too.  What does that have to do with anything.

In case you missed it, last week the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council decided that Dire Straits‘ 1985 hit song Money for Nothing is too offensive for Canadian airwaves. Why? Because of the repeated use of an anti-gay slur.  Here’s the lyrics:

The little f***** with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy, that’s his own hair
That little f***** got his own jet airplane
That little f***** he’s a millionaire

One member of Dire Straits has already gone on the record with a reaction. Keyboardist Guy Fletcher, on his personal website, said, “It’s odd that this should occur 25 years after its release.”