Dire Straits – Money For Nothing

“Money for Nothing” is a song by British rock band Dire Straits, the second track on their fifth studio album, Brothers in Arms (1985). It was released as the album’s second single on 28 June 1985 through Vertigo Records.

This song is about rock star excess and the easy life it brings compared with real work. Mark Knopfler wrote it 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.

Sting sings on this and helped write it (he and Knopfler are the credited writers). That’s him at the beginning singing “I want my MTV.” Sting did not want a songwriting credit, 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.”

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

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Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Official Music Video)

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Official Music Video)04:39

The video was directed by Steve Barron, who also directed the famous a-ha video for “Take On Me” and Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science.”

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

The album version runs 8:26 with an extended outro. The single was cut down to 4:38.

In the US, this stayed at #1 for three weeks. It also won a Grammy in 1986 for best Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

First video on the top has been the live recording at Knebworth, on June 30, 1990, with Eric Clapton, guitarist Phil Palmer, bassist Nathan East, drummer Steve Ferrone, keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, and backing vocalists Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles.

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