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

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Not to be confused with 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.

"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][4]

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 (played by Marty's son, Dax Callner) playing Twisted Sister songs in his bedroom while the rest of the family is eating dinner. The father, "Douglas C." (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 director Marty Callner, after which he strums his guitar and causes a blast so powerful it knocks the father out of a nearby window. 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 Douglas C. Niedermeyer from the 1978 film, Animal House (i.e., "Drop and give me 20", "You're all worthless and weak").

Ballad version

In 2016 Dee Snider gave magician Criss Angel the rights to use the song as an "anthem" for his HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity. "Dee and I have known each other since the 1990s and he was a strong proponent of mine for years. We are both from Long Island, or as we like to think of it, 'Strong Island,' and his record publishing company gave me the rights to the song and it is our anthem for gratis."[5] Snider appeared in a video of a stripped down acoustic version for the charity, recorded in the desert outside Las Vegas and featuring children in hospital and a young woman shaving her head to symbolize fighting cancer.[6]

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). Was also covered by Bif Naked for the film Ready To Rumble and the song was also covered by Powerman 5000 for their tribute album Copies, Clones, and Replicants.

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 the lyrics: Huevos con aceite, oh no, ya no queremos, ahora con Primavera, desayunarán (Eggs with oil, no. We don't want them. Now with Primavera butter, you'll take your breakfast). Twisted Sister has sung "Huevos con Aceite" when giving concerts in Spanish-speaking regions[7]
  • 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",[8] as a parody of being a true metal fan.
  • ApologetiX, a Christian Parody band, released the song "We're Not Going To Canaan" on their 2014 release "Loaded 45's"
  • Veritas Technologies uses the song in their 2016 commercials, as does Comcast for its Xfinity service, the parody song is called "You're Not Gonna Watch It". At the end of the Xfinity commercial, Snider is shown joking, "I used to like that song."

Legacy

The song was used in the commercials for the 2006 movie Charlotte's Web. 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 was part of the intro for liberal radio talk host Stephanie Miller until the 2008 election of Barack Obama, when it was replaced by "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. The song was sung by the characters Mordecai & Rigby in the Regular Show episode "Karaoke Video". 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]

In the TV series Chuck, in the episode Chuck Versus the First Kill, the song plays in the background of a battle between Fulcrum agents and the Sarah/Jill duo.[11]

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.[12] Newsweek reports Dee Snider of Twisted Sister gave Trump permission to use the song.[13] Snider later changed his mind saying that he had only allowed Trump to use the song because the two were friends, but then respectfully asked Trump to stop using it as he did not agree with many of Trump's stances. Snider did not want people to get the impression that he was endorsing Trump or his campaign.[14]

The song also appears in the episode 6 of season 5 of the TV series Person of Interest, where it's sung by Harold Finch during a wedding. The song was used in two TV spots of the 2015 film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. The song was also used in the teaser trailer of the 2016 film, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, and it's also featured in the 2018 science fiction film Ready Player One.

The song also appears in the Young Sheldon episode 15 called Dolomite, Apple Slices, and a Mystery Woman[15].

During the 2018 teachers' strikes in the United States, the song was used as a rallying cry by teachers striking in Oklahoma[16] and Arizona.[17]

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ^ "Twisted Sister: Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  2. ^ "We're Not Gonna Take It / You Can't Stop Rock 'n Roll". Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  3. ^ Snider, Dee (2013). Shut Up and Give Me the Mic. Simon & Schuster. pp. 236–237. ISBN 978-1451637403.
  4. ^ Kris Vire (November 2, 2014). "Dee Snider on his Rock & Roll Christmas Tale". Timeout. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "See Dee Snider Turn 'We're Not Gonna Take It' Into Piano Ballad". rollingstone.com. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  6. ^ Legends Playing League (August 23, 2016). "Dee Snider's Emotional Stripped Down Version of "We're Not Gonna Take It"". Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ José M PM (June 19, 2006). "Huevos con Aceite! - Twisted Sister". Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via YouTube.
  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. ^ "Chuck Versus the First Kill - Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  12. ^ "Trump Fight Song". Youtube.
  13. ^ Schonfeld, Zach (September 8, 2015). "Dee Snider on Why Donald Trump Can Use 'We're Not Gonna Take It'". Newsweek.
  14. ^ "TWISTED SISTER's DEE SNIDER: Why I Asked DONALD TRUMP To Stop Using 'We're Not Gonna Take It'". blabbermouth.net. June 1, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  15. ^ https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=young-sheldon-2017&episode=s01e15
  16. ^ "Video of Oklahoma band teachers performing "We're Not Gonna Take It" at Capitol is going viral". KFOR.com. April 3, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  17. ^ https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/04/29/arizona-teachers-form-redfored-spirit-band-perform-capitol-walkout/559101002/
  18. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 71. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  19. ^ "Canadian peak". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  20. ^ "Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  21. ^ "Twisted Sister – We're Not Gonna Take it". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  22. ^ a b "Stay Hungry – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  23. ^ "australian-charts.com - Forum - 1984 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts". charts.com. January 5, 1985. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  24. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. January 5, 1985. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
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