“We’re Not Gonna Take It”, one of the most known songs by Twisted Sister taken from their 1984’s ”Stay Hungry”, was a real hit that has also proven to have incredible staying power, appearing in countless films and commercials, and also being blasted at sporting events and rallies to this day still.
During a recent conversation with New York’s radio station Q104, Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider, was asked about the creation of the song, which explained:
“I was writing an anthem very deliberately. I wanted something people would use as a rallying cry. And I deliberately was very vague about what are you not taking. As a matter of fact, I believe it was the ‘Village Voice’ review of Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ (was) 3 words, ‘what from whom’, and then a big blank space before the next review.
”That was it. And I’m screaming, ‘That’s the point!’ The point was, ‘This isn’t ‘Smoke on the Water,’ man. I’m not telling you about ‘Funky Claude’, who I met, by the way. ‘He’s a dude?’ ‘Dee, this is Funky Claude.’ I said, ‘Who was running in and out? Pulling kids on the ground?’ ‘Yeah, that was him.”’
Lyrically, Dee Snider used a few people in particular as lyrical inspiration:
“But I said, ‘I want to be general,’ so people can put their situation in. Now, mind you, I was thinking about my dad, my bosses, my teachers, ex-girlfriends, things like that. And because it’s so general, it has become a battle cry for every cause and every side.
”So, I’ve got all the way on the left singing it, and all the way on the right they’re singing it. And now, it’s almost a folk song at this point, where it’s just transcended the genre, the band. And that’s incredible. I never expected that.”