We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song)
| "We're Not Gonna Take It" | ||||
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| 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 | ||||
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"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
- 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. 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
Legacy
The song was used in the commercials for the 2006 movie Charlotte's Web (2006 film) and also for the film's website "savewilbur.com".
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 outro 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.
The song was part of the intro for progressive talk host Stephanie Miller until the 2008 election of Barack Obama, when it was replaced by "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
References
External links
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