<P> The lead character in "Money for Nothing" is a guy who works in the hardware department in a television / ​ custom kitchen / ​ refrigerator / ​ microwave appliance store . He's singing the song . I wrote the song when I was actually in the store . I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store . I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real...</P> <P> The first - person narrating character in the lyrics refers to a musician "banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee" and a woman "stickin' in the camera, man we could have some fun". He describes a singer as "that little faggot with the earring and the make - up", and bemoans that these artists get "money for nothing and chicks for free". </P> <P> In 2000, Knopfler appeared on Parkinson on BBC One and explained again where the lyrics originated . According to Knopfler, he was in New York and stopped by an appliance store . At the back of the store, they had a wall of TVs which were all tuned to MTV . Knopfler said there was a man working there dressed in a baseball cap, work boots, and a checkered shirt delivering boxes who was standing next to him watching . As they were standing there watching MTV, Knopfler remembers the man coming up with lines such as "what are those, Hawaiian noises?...that ain't workin'," etc . Knopfler asked for a pen to write some of these lines down and then eventually put those words to music . </P> <P> Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx said that the song was about his band, and that the members of Dire Straits were in an electronics store where a row of TVs were all playing Mötley Crüe . </P>

What movie is the song money for nothing in