A Literalist Reaction to Money for Nothing by Dire Straits
3,557
Published 2022-08-30
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Dave (the 36-year-old with the impressive beard) was raised almost completely sheltered from pop culture by his strict military family. He was homeschooled his entire life until he entered college. He legitimately has very little knowledge of music and bands from before 2000.
John (the guy in the dark on the right) has been a MUSIC LOVER since he was born in the 1960's. Problem is, he rarely knows or fully grasps the lyrics. Dave (on the left), on the other hand, has never heard or rarely overheard the music John chooses to play for him, but tends to take lyrics literally, sometimes to unexpected ends.
John remains in the dark both as a wry play on the situation but also because of legal issues causing his attorney to recommend maintaining a low profile.
We did not write nor do we own the Copyright for the song used in this Educational Video. This is a real, honest reaction to a song Dave have never consciously heard before and/or listened to with intent. Any "facts" offered by John "Doh" are based more on his remembrances than on any actual research. Please feel free to correct him. He loves it.
Fair use principles under Section 107 of the Copyright Act allow the unlicensed use of copyrighted materials for fair use purposes, such as commentary, criticism, teaching, and news reporting.
All Comments (21)
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I find it funny how people think the video for this is so bad, without realizing how cutting edge it and expensive it was.
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I heard this song a ton growing up, and I've never heard of anyone harmed by these lyrics.
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Mark Knopfler was a reporter for a local newspaper for a while, before he made it as a musician. That's were his habit of listening to people and always being open to everyday stories came from.
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Unlike 99% of songs, watching this one without the video does a great deal to obscure the context.
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As a drummer, you definitely get blisters when you start playing, if you practice and play a lot. With time, they eventually turn into calluses.
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I loved that Mr. Literal pointed out that the VERY WORDS of the guy complaining in the appliance store became lyrics sung by guitarists on MTV. If that working stiff ever heard this song, he would clearly have to recognize his own words, and spent the rest of his life telling everyone he inspired that song, only to be ridiculed and not believed. Probably one of the most poignant ironies I've ever heard.
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The three other must-listen DS songs are: "Sultans of Swing" (Alchemy Live performance), "Brothers In Arms", and "Industrial Disease".
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Dave, Dave,Dave…that song could go on for 10 minutes more. It’s a great driving song.
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This was a good one to introduce Dave to Dire Straits (I agree that the album cut is overly long, 3 1/2 to 4 min is just about right on this one). A couple songs that are just under the surface: Skateaway and Industrial Disease.
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The bongo line was making fun of the popular video games called donkey Kong where you literally had to use a special bongo controller to play the game. The whole song was making fun major things going on in society at the time.
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Telegraph Road is a great song, it's long but, worth it. And a good story for Dave to go over.
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The lyrics were written from an overhead conversation at at a retail store-hence the comments about MTV.😀❤️
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Great review! Two excellent points ..adding a bongo solo/background and the idea of the writing credit for the worker who was complaining. Brilliant.
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I love these guy's reactions! I first came upon them for a reaction to my favorite band RUSH.
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The Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins albums were good. Two great guitarist together.
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The metallic sound that occasionally comes in is either the DX1 or the DX7 synthesizer
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i want my MTV was a slogan by mtv they used to play that to advertise mtv .I watched them play this live 1986 it was awesome they were awesome it was that song that got me to go to there concert .
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Yay Jon - glad you brought Dire Straits to the show! Telegraph Road and Brothers in Arms both come to mind for great literalist reactions. Cheers!
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Dang, just finding out now after all these years that was Sting! I had always just assumed it was some random member of the band.
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It has since been edited to not have the word Faggot anymore. I think the radio edit took the song down to around 4 1/2 minutes and removed the Faggot Verse entirely. I honestly was never really bothered by it, and I thought it added color to the character that was being painted (The blue collar installer). Yes, I am gay, so I do no the hurtfulness that word brings, and have had it slung my way more than once by idiots and religious zealots, but I never felt this was being used as a slur in the song.
