Dire Straits’ classic rock song, Money for Nothing, has been given the all-clear to return to Canadian airwaves after the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council reversed the ban they had placed on the song due to the use of the word fa–ot in the lyrics, reports the CBC.
The council banned the Grammy award-winning song from the radio back in January when a listener from St. John’s, Newfoundland complained about the lyric. The ban resulted in a huge public backlash causing the CRTC to ask the council to review their decision.
In the end, it all came down to a matter of context. After songwriter Mark Knopfler explained that the satirical lyrics were from the point-of-view of an ignorant "bonehead," an ad hoc panel from the council decided to drop the country-wide ban and allow each region to determine for themselves whether they would play the original or the edited version.
"While, for the reasons given in this decision, the ad hoc national panel concludes that the original version does not breach the private broadcasters’ codified standards, it would encourage broadcasters to make the airplay choice appropriate to their market," explained the panel in a statement.