Jump to content

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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jfgrcar (talk | contribs) at 21:49, 27 August 2015 (Trump theme). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the Who song, see We're Not Gonna Take It (The Who song).
"We're Not Gonna Take It"
Song
B-side"You Can't Stop Rock & Roll"

"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 "We're not gonna take it" was adopted as the unofficial theme of Donald J Trump for President and was played after all his campaign appearances.

"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".[3]

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. The rest of the band invades the house, singing to the other children and wreaking 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').

Cover versions

The song has been covered by various artists including:

Parodies

  • American singer "Weird Al" Yankovic included a short stylized version of the song in his "Hooked on Polkas" medley from Dare to Be Stupid.
  • American ska punk band Reel Big Fish used the melody to the song as part of their song "Everybody's Drunk" with lyrics altered to be: "We're all gonna get drunk! We're all gonna get drunk! Oh wait we're already drunk!".
  • In 1999, the US rock band Lit parodied the opening scene in their video for "Zip-Lock".
  • In a Primavera commercial in Spain, there was a parody named "Huevos con Aceite". With this lyrics: Huevos con aceite, oh no, ya no queremos, ahora con Primavera, desayunarán. Twister Sister has sung "Huevos con Aceite" when giving concerts in Spanish-speaking regions [8]
  • This song is used for a hotel chain called Extended StayAmerica as a TV commercial.
  • Spanish heavy metal band Gigatrón released a version of this song with different Spanish lyrics titled "Heavy hasta la muerte",[9] as a parody of being a true metal fan.

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.[10][11]

Charts performance

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 10
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 21
US Billboard Top Tracks[15] 20

References

  1. ^ "Twisted Sister: Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
  2. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification – July 2009". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  3. ^ Snider, Dee (2013). Shut Up and Give Me the Mic. Simon and Schuster. pp. 236–237. ISBN 978-1451637403.
  4. ^ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  5. ^ Minow, Nell (2012-06-15). "Rock of Ages". Beliefnet. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  6. ^ "Dee Snider (performer)-". Internet Broadway Database -. Retrieved 2012-06-20. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |publisher= at position 27 (help)
  7. ^ "YouTube - Milos Obilic (Toni Montano)". Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  8. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otdh4mYnTYE
  9. ^ "Heavy hasta la muerte". Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  10. ^ "DEE SNIDER TO PAUL RYAN: STOP PLAYING MY SONG". AP. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  11. ^ Dee Snider äußert seinen Unmut gegenüber Paul Ryan.
  12. ^ Canadian peak
  13. ^ "Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  14. ^ "Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  15. ^ a b "Stay Hungry – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=We%27re_Not_Gonna_Take_It_(Twisted_Sister_song)&oldid=678187328"