Money for Nothing (Dire Straits) – 1985

A trip to a New York appliance store inspired the lyrics of “Money for Nothing,” according to Dire Straits’ lead guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler. In the store, a delivery man was commenting on an MTV video and made statements like “that ain’t working” and “he’s banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee.”

Knopfler liked it so much that he wrote down the words and later put them to music. The song is about what it’s like to be a rock star and the luxury it brings as opposed to having to do real work. He had the idea as he sat in the store at a kitchen display set up.