Vancouver, Jan. 14 (Reuters): A Canadian radio station has been warned to censor the 1985 Dire Straits hit Money for Nothing, after a complaint that the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning song were derogatory to gay men.

A St John’s, Newfoundland, station should have edited the song to remove the word “faggot” because it violates Canada’s human rights standards, according to ruling this week by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

A unnamed listener to OZ FM in the Atlantic Coast province complained to the industry watchdog last year after hearing the song, which features Mark Knopfler and Sting.

The council said it realised Dire Straits uses the word sarcastically, and its use might have been acceptable in 1985 when the best-selling Brothers in Arms album was released, but said it was now inappropriate. “The decision doesn’t really relate to the Dire Straits song at the end of the day, the decision relates to the word in question,” Ron Cohen, the council’s chairman, said.