Song #578: "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits

Date: Sept 21, 1985
Weeks: 3

This is a classic of 80s rock, but it's probably best known for its music video. That is some early computer animation there, with its huge blocks, gliding movements, and barely-present shading. It's kind of funny that as I write this, I've got Finding Nemo on the TV. It's remarkable how far computer animation has come. This video also got played all over MTV, not least because it mentions MTV in the lyrics, creating a wonderful little cross-promotional synergy that both MTV and Dire Straits benefited from.

As for the actual song, the whole song is based around a great guitar riff. This is some plain and straightforward rock music here. The lead guitar carries the song, and everything else is secondary. There are synth-keyboards that are well-used as accents, and the drum line is unremarkably ordinary, which is a blessing in an 80s song.

The lyrics are pretty interesting. They are from the perspective of a very blue-collar guy who works delivering appliances, and he's envious that MTV stars have managed to figure out how to get paid a lot for doing very little actual work. "That's the way you do it. You play the guitar on the MTV." There's also some more colorful and offensive language in the lyrics that is also obviously from this character's perspective. As art, the offensive language is forgiven by the perspective, but as pop music it's a little rough to hear on the radio. Anyway, it's almost certainly accurate for the time.

My verdict: Like it. It's an 80s rock classic, and reminds me of MTV's best days.