We're Not Gonna Take It

"We're Not Gonna Take It" is a 1984 hit song by the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister from their album Stay Hungry. The song was first released as a single (With B-Side song "You Can't Stop Rock & Roll") on April 27, 1984. The Stay Hungry album was released two weeks later, on May 10, 1984. The single reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making it Twisted Sister's only Top 40 single. The song was ranked #47 on 100 Greatest 80's Songs and #21 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s. The song was written by vocalist Dee Snider. As influences for the song, he cites the glam rock band Slade, the punk band Sex Pistols, and the Christmas carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful". It is also possible that the concluding words of a certain ranting statement, made by Peter Finch's character Howard Beale in the 1976 American movie Network, may have been inspirational in Dee Snider's choice of lyrics for the song. "We're Not Gonna Take It" is also the title of the last song on The Who's Tommy album, but there is no connection between the two. The song is notable for its popular music video directed by Marty Callner, with its emphasis on slapstick comedy, where a parent gets the worst of the band's mischief. Controversy arose when the depiction of the family in the video caused a public outcry long before the "explicit lyrics" warning was placed on records, cassettes, and CDs. This led to the formation of the Parents Music Resource Center. Mark Metcalf, the actor portraying the father in the video, had previously played Neidermayer, the ROTC student commander in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). In a reference to his role in the film, Metcalf says "A Twisted Sister pin? On your uniform?!" in the video. Snider himself can also be heard cursing and swearing the question "A pledge pin? On your uniform?" at the end of the song. The actor (Dax Callner) portraying the teenager went on to become a rock singer. In 1999, the US rock band Lit parodied the opening scene in their video for "Zip Lock". The crazy father was played by Dee Snider. The song has been covered by various artists including: * American ska punk band Less Than Jake for the 1997 punk rock/emo compilation Where's The Beef * American The Huntingtons for their 1998 album All the Stuff (And More)-Vol 1 * American hardcore-punk band Global Threat on their 1999 album What the fuck will change? * Canadian rock singer Bif Naked for the Ready to Rumble soundtrack in 2000 * American Joan Jett for a 2001 tribute album Twisted Forever - A Tribute To The Legendary Twisted Sister * Thee Ultra Bimboos * German pop punk band The Donots in 2002 (which became a minor hit in Germany, reaching 33 in the Singles Chart) * Chilean band Los Mox in Spanish for their album Con Cover (the title of the song in Spanish is "No lo aceptaremos") * Mexican glam rock band Moderatto in Spanish ("No lo Aceptaremos") (which was released in 2007 for the Mexican Consejo de la Comunicación, the organization connected to the Ad Council) anti-corruption advertising campaign) * Australian pop duo The Veronicas, which was available for download and also used in a 2008 birth control pill commercial called Yaz * Swedish trio Hellsongs on their 2008 album Hymns In The Key Of 666 * Holland street rock'n'roll band Discipline on their 2008 album Old Pride, New Glory * Spanish oi! band Oi! The Arrase for the album Anarkoi in 1997 with other lyrics but same music (the title of the song is "Somos de Mallorca") This song was covered by Children of Bodom in a 2006 London concert. * American "Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in the "Hooked on Polkas" medley from Dare to Be Stupid. * German Comedy Metal Band J.B.O. also did a German version of it, called "Wir wollen's nicht mehr nehmen" as part of their "Drogen?"-Medley on their 1997 Laut! album * American ska/punk band, Reel Big Fish, used the melody to the song as part of their song "Everybody's Drunk" but altered the lyrics to: "We're all gonna get drunk! We're all gonna get drunk! Oh wait we're already drunk!". * Canadian ska band Whole Lotta Milka also covered the song on their Got Milka album under the title "Twisted". It remains popular at sporting events, political rallies, and protests and has even been used in television commercials. * It is one of the main songs in the 1986 movie Iron Eagle. * During the 1993 baseball season, the resurgent New York Yankees played the song after every win before the traditional playing of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York. * In the recent past, the Baltimore Orioles played this song on occasion including footage of The Bird pretending to box. * It has been used as the opening bumper music for The Stephanie Miller Show. * The song was featured in PS2 game Activision Anthology. * This song was played in a Sprite commercial when baseball fans in a stadium were given a different drink after ordering Sprite. * This song is also used in the spots of the Greek libertarian party Liberal Alliance (which erroneously calls it "We're Not Going to Take It"). * The song was used in the first Manwhore Show by Mark Twain Productions. * The song was featured in an episode of the karaoke game show The Singing Bee. * The intro to the full length version uses the words "Is that a pin, on your uniform" quoting the 1978 movie Animal House * While in WCW, actor David Arquette used the Bif Naked version of the song as his theme. * In 2000, comedian Dave Chappelle, in his special Killin' Them Softly, referenced the song, saying "nobody wants to get their ass beat to a soundtrack", while talking about police brutality. * After the September 11 attacks, some radio stations in the United States played the song to demonstrate American outrage. * At the end of the 2001 Disney movie Max Keeble's Big Move, the song is played by the marching band. * During the 2003 California recall election, it was used as the anthem for Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful bid for governor. * When Djurgårdens IF in Allsvenskan 2004 began to play their home games at Råsunda Stadium, some AIK fans used the tune for "We're Not Gonna Take It", but instead they sang their own lyrics: Stick från vår arena (Leave our arena). * In 2004, the song was used by professional wrestling tag team The Ring Crew Express as their theme in the Ring of Honor promotion. * In November 2006, "We're Not Gonna Take It" has been used by a Swedish company, "Trygg Hansa" in a television advertisement. Twisted Sister has for many years had a strong fanbase in Sweden. * It also provided the tune for Rafael Correa's official campaign song in his victorious run for president of Ecuador in 2006. * In 2007 the song was used for a Bee Movie commercial. * This song was featured during a piece on the fall of the Berlin Wall on a 2007 episode of History Rocks ("The 80s"), by The History Channel * The song was included in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. * The song was mentioned in a news article on the satirical site The Onion with the headline "Members Of Twisted Sister Now Willing To Take It." Dee Snider called the article both "hilarious" and "flattering" on The Howard Stern Show (Stern being both a friend of Snider's and a fan of The Onion). * A cover of the song was used in the 2008 game Rock Revolution * When Torstein Helstad scored goals for SK Brann in Tippeligaen 2007, some SK Brann fans used the tune for "We're Not Gonna Take It", but instead they sang their own lyrics: Vi har Torstein Helstad (We have Torstein Heldstad). * In 2009, the song was used as one of several anthems for the 2009 Tea Party protests in the United States. * Was featured in the 20th episode of the second season of the popular TV show Chuck aired upon the 13th April 2009.

Oh, we're not gonna take it No, we ain't gonna take it Oh, we're not gonna take it, anymore We've got the right to choose and There ain't no way we'll lose it This is our life, this is our song We'll fight the powers that be just Don't pick our destiny, 'cause You don't know us, you don't belong Oh, we're not gonna take it No, we ain't gonna take it Oh, we're not gonna take it anymore Oh, you're so condescending Your gall is never ending We don't want anything, not a thing from you Your life is trite and jaded Boring and confiscated If that's your best, your best won't do Woah Woah We're right! (Yeah!) We're free! (Yeah!) We'll fight! (Yeah!) You'll see! (Yeah!) Oh, we're not gonna take it No, we ain't gonna take it Oh, we're not gonna take it anymore Oh, we're not gonna take it No, we ain't gonna take it Oh, we're not gonna take it anymore No way! Woah Woah We're right! (Yeah!) We're free! (Yeah!) We'll fight! (Yeah!) You'll see! (Yeah!) We're not gonna take it No, we ain't gonna take it We're not gonna take it anymore We're not gonna take it, no! No, we ain't gonna take it We're not gonna take it anymore (Just you try and make us!) Oh, we're not gonna take it (Come on!) No, we ain't gonna take it (You're all worthless and weak!) We're not gonna take it anymore (Now drop and give me twenty!) Oh, we're not gonna take it (A pledge pin?!) No, we ain't gonna take it (On your uniform!) We're not gonna take it anymore