Dire Straits - Money for nothing (1984)

Money For Nothing Lyric

Now look at them yo - yos that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and chicks for free
Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TVs

See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he's a millionaire

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TVs

I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera
Man we could have some fun
And he's up there, what's that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TVs, Lord

Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
Money for nothin' and chicks for free

Song Notes : "Mark Knopfler wrote this after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. He wrote the song in the store sitting at a kitchen display they had set up. Many of the lyrics were things they actually said"

"This was the first video played on MTV Europe. The network went on the air August 1, 1987, 6 years after MTV in the US"

Sting sings on this and helped write it. That's him at the beginning singing "I want my MTV."

"Dire Straits recorded this in Montserrat. Sting was on vacation there and came by to help out"

Sting did not want a songwriting credit for this, but his record company did because they would have earned royalties from it. They claimed it sounded very similar to a song Sting wrote for The Police: "Don't Stand So Close To Me."

"The innovative video was one of the first to feature computer generated animation. The characters were supposed to have more detail, like buttons on their shirts, but they used up the budget and had to leave it as is. It won Best Video at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards"

"In the video, a microwave oven is shown with "Low, Medium, and High" settings. This is a veiled reference to how frequent radio stations play a particular song. A "High" frequency song is usually a current hit on its way up the charts, while a "Low" one is usually on its way down"

"This won a Grammy in 1986 for best Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group"

Mark Knopfler played a Les Paul Junior plugged into a Laney amp on this track. Producer Neil Dorfsman recalled in Sound On Sound magazine May 2006 : "We were going for a ZZ Top sound, but what we ended up getting was kind of an accident."