To begin with, it should be stated that MTV is a worldwide known music channel, which is associated with popularity, popular music, and a careless way of life. Originally, this stereotype is originated from the images of the singers and musicians, who are generally broadcasted on this channel. On the other hand, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It may be explained by the fact that the audience does not see the concealed part of the music work, and imagines only the bohemian part of their lives. This paper aims to analyze the lyrics by Dire Straits, compare it with the contemporary image of the MTV artists, and give the replies to the following questions: What are the realities of the predictions made by these artists? What kind of impact has been made upon the music industry and upon popular culture?
Analysis of the Lyrics
The song is sung from the position of two guys, working for a custom kitchen deliveries service, who accidentally watch the MTV broadcasting in the kitchen of one of their clients. One of them is young, and the other, who “sings” the song, is older and more experienced. He regards the life of any MTV artist as it is sung in the starting lines of the Lyrics:
Now look at them yo-yo’s 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
This worker claims that artists have a careless life, and they do not have to perform any hard work, while he, and his companion:
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these color TV’s
The life of the MTV artist seems to be easy, full of luxury, and easily earned money. Originally, this image stayed the same, as the destiny of the public idols is full of glory, honor, and carelessness. The fact is that much is emphasized in the lyrics, nevertheless, from the position of a custom kitchen delivery loader, the life of an artist looks like a fairy tale.
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
The following part of the song reveals the common delusion, claiming that it is sufficient to learn to play some musical instrument, and the careless way of life is inevitable, and the glory and chicks for free, will be available. Nevertheless, only the most talented or lucky can reach the heights of the show business, which are described in the lyrics. Nevertheless, Custom Kitchen Delivery people are not able to imagine it:
I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play the 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 bongoes like a chimpanzee
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Get your money for nothin’ get your chicks for free
Money for Nothing is the song, which may be regarded as the anthem of MTV and pop culture in general. On the one hand, it is impossible to imagine a musician or singer as a person, who is engaged in some hard labor, or who is not popular at least within some restricted audience. On the other hand, the song emphasizes the fact, that the image of public favorites has not been subjected to changes since the 1980s, since the very origination of MTV as a commercial music video.
MTV Concept, and the Realities, Displayed in the Song
It should be emphasized that the original aim of the MTV channel was leisure, music, and entertainment. This is emphasized by Seidman (p. 391):
The original purpose of MTV was to be “Music Television,” playing music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, guided by on-air personalities known as VJs, or video jockeys. The original taglines of the channel were “You’ll never look at music the same way again,” and “On cable. In stereo.” Although the concept of playing music videos 24/7 has long been abandoned, MTV still promotes and plays a limited selection of music videos on its TV channel and website. (Seidman, p. 391)
In the light of this perspective, there is a strong necessity to mention that MTV, and the images, which are pictured by the artists, whose videos are broadcasted, popularizes the extravagant way of life, eroticized images of males and females. The legendary “money for nothing and chicks for free” is regarded as the key principle, provided in the music videos, except those, which represent the difficulties of life. Nevertheless, every pop singer has at least one video, where the beautiful and careless life is represented. The main character of the video is surrounded by girls or boys of model appearance, drives a luxury car, smokes Cuban cigars, etc. Even if these items are just the properties, required for making a video, the audience does not think this fact over, and the image is associated with the artist him or herself.
The main claim, which is generally provided in the research literature on the issues of pop culture, is generally associated with the matters of the image of an average artist, and the imagination of the audience, which is formed by the music videos and commercials broadcasted on MTV. Fain (p. 590) emphasizes the following statement:
I think the important thing about MTV is how it’s broken down the notion that there is the culture of programming, on the one side, and marketing and advertising, on the other side. And if you reflect on what the gist of MTV is composed of which are the videos – and ask yourself, “Well, what are videos? Are they culture?” Well, in one sense they are because they’re sort of very avant-garde surrealist filmmaking that had you seen them 40 years ago…would have stood out and would have been hailed as sort of artistic breakthrough, and still do delight and astound regularly. (Fain, p. 590)
Consequently, it should be stated that the bright image is very attractive for attention, and the information is perceived by the relaxed brain when critical thinking is damped. Consequently, it is the perfect way to influence the minds, especially the minds of youngsters. Adolescents perceive the image as the truth and consider that the careless life of dandies lacks problems, difficulties, and troubles, while no efforts are required for achieving success. Thus, some young singers or musicians become upset by their destiny; feel depressed when they fail to reach the success of the MTV scales. Nevertheless, essential financial reserves are required as well as immense talent, luck and efforts.
The youth culture, which is based on MTV stereotypes, is formed precisely by the images of the singers. Edelstein (p. 64) explains this paradox in his research:
The nature of youth culture is a very tricky topic to take into account, as there are multiple viewpoints from which it can be and is defined. For example, many of those who are characterized as “youth” tend to see themselves in a certain light, trying to glorify their peers and personal style, while the older generations see youth culture differently because they have an interest in it unlike that of their children or grandchildren. Many young adults associate with and judge themselves by the styles and personalities of the stars. (Edelstein, p. 64)
Thus, the images, described in the song appear to be fully corresponding with the realities of contemporary pop culture and the concept of MTV format.
The impact upon the Music Industry and Pop Culture
The impact of this particular song on the culture in general, or at least upon the music industry can not be regarded as serious. The fact is that Dire Straits is a widely known music group, nevertheless, the format of their music differs essentially from the pop format. Their videos are not filled with images of bohemian life, and if the girls appear in the videos, mainly in a romantic context. Moreover, as a British music band, Dire Straits could not affect the American music industry essentially, consequently, the impact was tiny, and this song can not be regarded as a serious factor of influence.
The popular culture was not influenced at all, as the music video for this song is composed of low-quality computer animation. It is not featured with bright pictures, impressive video effects, etc. The music itself is composed in a classic rock format. Originally, this style was popular in the 1980s; nevertheless, it can not be attributed to the pop music, and culture associated with it.
The lyrics of the song are simple for perception, nevertheless, pop culture presupposes simpler linguistic images and as simple words as it is possible, which represent protest, passion, dissatisfaction, or any other powerful emotion. “Money for nothing” may be regarded as the song of protest, nevertheless, the protest is weak, and is not emphasized neither by voice nor by some expressive words, which would catch the ear of any listener. It should be emphasized that this song is not regarded as a hit. Surely, it was mentioned for its non-format sounding and unique music video, as computer graphics was rarely used for creating music videos, nevertheless the sense of the song, the meaning of words, and the allover representation of the images are not impressive. Thus, the influence is minor and even close to zero.
In accordance with Rapping (p. 395) the following statement should be emphasized:
The MTV machine does listen very carefully to children. In rather the same way as Dr. Goebbels, the ministry of propaganda listened to the German people. Propagandists have to listen to their audience very, very closely. When corporate revenues depend on being ahead of the curve, you have to listen, you have to know exactly what they want and exactly what they’re thinking so that you can give them what you want them to have. Now that’s an important distinction. (Rapping,p. 395)
MTV, in general, may be regarded as the propaganda of the particular way of life, nevertheless, few can achieve the top of the world and live the careless life, and the song by Dire Straits clearly expresses this thought: custom kitchen delivery workers will not become a popular singer or musician.
Finally, it should be stated that the influence of a single song’s overall culture or music industry is tiny. All the songs, which are aimed to provide such influence, are forceless, as the culture is formed by the personality of the singers, the format of the songs, and the images, represented in the songs, and videos on these songs and music. Consequently, Money for Nothing is just a weak voice of protest, which reminds just the statement of the well-known fact, which is aimed at depicting the image, which is not a secret. Nevertheless, it can not influence the way of thinking and change it at least for a while.
Bibliography
Edelstein, Alex S. Total Propaganda: From Mass Culture to Popular Culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005.
Fain, Thomas A. “American Popular Culture: Should We Integrate It into American Education?.” Education 124.4 (2004): 590
Rapping, Elayne. Media-Tions: Forays into the Culture and Gender Wars. Boston, MA: South End Press, 2002.
Seidman, Steven A. “Revisiting Sex-Role Stereotyping in MTV Videos.” International Journal of Instructional Media 26.1 (2006): 11.