We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song)

"We're Not Gonna Take It"
Single by Twisted Sister
from the album Stay Hungry
B-side "You Can't Stop Rock & Roll"
Released April 27, 1984
Format 7" Single
Recorded 1984
Genre Heavy metal[1]
Length 3:38
Label Atlantic
Writer(s) Dee Snider
Producer(s) Tom Werman
Certification 8x Platinum (CRIA)[2]
Twisted Sister singles chronology
"You Can't Stop Rock & Roll"
(1983)		 "We're Not Gonna Take It"
(1984)		 "I Wanna Rock"
(1984)

"We're Not Gonna Take It" is a song by the American band Twisted Sister from their album Stay Hungry. It was first released as a single (with "You Can't Stop Rock & Roll" as the B-side) on April 27, 1984. The Stay Hungry album was released two weeks later, on May 10, 1984. The single reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it Twisted Sister's only Top 40 single. The song was ranked No. 47 on 100 Greatest 80's Songs and No. 21 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s.

In the summer of 2015, the song was adopted as the theme song for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The song is played after all his campaign appearances where it is known unofficially as the Trump fight song.[3] Newsweek reports Dee Snider of Twisted Sister gave Trump permission to use the song.[4]

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was written by vocalist Dee Snider. As influences for the song, he cites the glam rock band Slade and the Christmas carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful".[5][6]

Music video

The song is notable for its popular music video directed by Marty Callner, with its emphasis on slapstick comedy. The video begins with a disobedient son playing Twisted Sister songs in his bedroom while the rest of the family is eating dinner. The father played by Mark Metcalf goes to the boy's bedroom and scolds his son for being interested only in his guitar and Twisted Sister music. At the last line of the father's rather overlong speech, he says "What do you want to do with your life?" To which the son replies "I Wanna Rock!" with a voice strikingly similar to that of lead vocalist Dee Snider. The boy then transforms into Snider and the music begins. Snider sings to the other children, who turn into the rest of the band, and they wreak havoc on the family. The father gets the worst of the band's mischief. The end of the song pays tribute to Metcalf's character Doug Niedermeyer from the 1978 film, Animal House (i.e. 'Drop and give me 20', 'You're all worthless and weak').

Notable cover versions

The song has been covered by various artists including German pop punk band Donots in 2002 (which became a minor hit in Germany, reaching 33 in the Singles Chart).

Parodies

Legacy

VH-1's series True Spin explains the song as simply an anthem of teen rebellion, but Snider appeared saying that he was happy that long after he's gone, "any time that the team is down by two, or somebody had a bad day at the office, they're gonna stand up and sing We're Not Gonna Take It".

The song is the theme song of the American reality comedy television series Betty White's Off Their Rockers.

2012 Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan's camp used the song in their campaign, until Snider asked Ryan not to play it anymore; Snider stated that he does not support Ryan and he planned on voting for Obama.[9][10]

This song is one of the two songs used by the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, during live rally events that have filled venues from 3000 to 33,000. "We're not gonna take it" is the outré song after the speeches, and the intro song before the speeches is "You're the best" by Joe Esposito. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister donated the right to play "Were not gonna take it" during the Trump campaign so that the campaign can play the song in public events and without royalties.

Charts performance

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 10
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 21
US Billboard Top Tracks[14] 20

References

  1. ↑ "Twisted Sister: Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
  2. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Certification – July 2009". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  3. ↑ "Trump Fight Song". Youtube.
  4. ↑ Schonfeld, Zach (September 8, 2015). "Dee Snider on Why Donald Trump Can Use 'We're Not Gonna Take It'". Newsweek.
  5. ↑ Snider, Dee (2013). Shut Up and Give Me the Mic. Simon & Schuster. pp. 236–237. ISBN 978-1451637403.
  6. ↑ Kris Vire (2 November 2014). "Dee Snider on his Rock & Roll Christmas Tale". Timeout. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otdh4mYnTYE
  8. ↑ "Heavy hasta la muerte". Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  9. ↑ "DEE SNIDER TO PAUL RYAN: STOP PLAYING MY SONG". AP. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Dee Snider äußert seinen Unmut gegenüber Paul Ryan.
  11. ↑ Canadian peak
  12. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Stay Hungry – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 5, 2013.

External links

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