We're Not Gonna Take It

This is our life, this is our song

May 1984.

An unknown assailant walks into the offices of Ewing Oil and fires three bullets into the back of J.R.’s chair. Indiana Jones is beseeched by villagers to recover a mystical stone. Meanwhile, Phil Collins and Lionel Richie battle for the year’s most boring song.

It’s a time of shoulder pads and parachute pants, of polo shirts and pastel colors, of station wagons and Cabbage Patch kids and beleaguered folk wondering ‘Where’s the Beef?’

Amidst this innocuous backdrop comes a howl of cross-dressed defiance. A song so powerful, so instantly contagious, it shakes the conservative side of the populace to its uptight core.

I’m talking, of course, about Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It.

Yes, it’s silly.

Yes, it’s over the top.

And yes the song is about as tacky as a velvet painting.

Even so: We’re Not Gonna Take It is a fist pumping, boot stomping, anthem of youthful rebellion. It’s not so much the song as it is the song’s attitude: a middle finger raised in defiance to the suffocating façade of the suburban normal.

Because let’s face it. While the 80’s were fun, and undoubtedly part of our golden years, there was plenty of ignorant shit as well:

• The Cold War

• Acid Rain

• The War on Drugs

• Reaganomics

• HIV / AIDS, a.k.a. the ‘gay plague’, a.k.a. ‘What do you gotta be worried about, unless you’re a junkie or queer?’

Like I said: ignorant shit.

Enter Twisted Sister - a ragtag band from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, whose biggest claim to fame before their international success was doing Gong Shows and Death to Disco routines up and down the club circuit in NYC.

We’re Not Gonna Take It exploded onto the scene in May of 1984. It reached #21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and went on to sell over half a million records.

Spearheading the song’s battle cry was one of the decade’s most memorable videos. It was directed by the legendary Marty Callner, who’s also directed videos for Heart, Whitesnake, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Robin Williams, and a whole lot more.

The video for We’re Not Gonna Take It begins with a teenage boy in his room. He’s playing his guitar and listening to Twisted Sister instead of having dinner with his nuclear family. The irritated Father storms upstairs and lambasts his son. His room is a mess. He’s a disgusting slob. His listening skills are questionable.

Having worked himself into a frenzy, the Father spits an iconic question into his son’s face:

The son raises his chin, looks his father straight in the eye, and expresses his unquenchable desire to rock. The son goes on to punctuate his rebellion with an emphatic strum of his Fender guitar. The power chord packs such a mighty punch, it sends the Father flying ass-first through the bedroom wall.  

The son turns into lead singer Dee Snider. Family members morph into the rest of the band. The Father, meanwhile, battles on in slapstick fashion. He channels his inner Wile E. Coyote and marches on in his war against rock, in his war against the freedom to be whoever the hell you want. He’s repelled, naturally, time and again by a triumphant Twisted Sister.

The message is simple, and about as American as it gets:

It’s an important message in this age of Bullies. Of Bots and Billionaires and Bullshit Artists. Of every Asshole with access to wi-fi outraged every time you don’t conform to their unshakeable concepts of right and wrong.

Interestingly enough, that’s exactly what happened in 1985, when the newly founded PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) began their quest to slap parental advisory labels on albums they found offensive. You know - to protect the children from violent or sexual or drug-related lyrics.

That’s right. The hottie you see pictured above is none other than Tipper Gore, one of the four ‘Washington Wives’ who founded the PMRC.

Fun fact: The group’s formation was made possible by the generous donations of Mike Love from the Beach Boys and Joseph Coors, owner of Coors beers. These two men were Made to Chill any Good Vibrations they don’t want you experiencing.  

Anyway, these vanilla fuckwits, in the name of all things Christian and decent, formed a list of fifteen songs they found the most objectionable. They dubbed them the Filthy Fifteen. I present them here now in all their glory.

• Prince - Darling Nikki (sex/masturbation)

• Sheena Easton – Sugar Walls (sex)

• Judas Priest – Eat Me Alive (sex/violence)

• Vanity – Strap On ‘Robbie Baby’ (sex)

• Motley Crue – Bastard (violence/language)

• AC/DC – Let Me Put My Love Into You (sex)

• Twisted Sister – We’re Not Gonna Take It (violence)

• Madonna – Dress You Up (sex)

• W.A.S.P. – Animal (Fuck Like A Beast) (sex/language/violence - the unholy trifecta!)

• Def Leppard – High ‘n’ Dry (Saturday Night) (drug & alcohol use)

• Mercyful Fate – Into the Coven (occult)

• Black Sabbath – Trashed (drug & alcohol use)

• Mary Jane Girls – In My House (sex)

• Venom – Possessed (occult)

• Cyndi Lauper – She Bop (sex/masturbation)

I don’t know about you folks, but I’m feeling kinda hot.

Jokes aside, it’s pretty obvious (at least to me) why We’re Not Gonna Take It deserves a place in the Gen X Jukebox. It shook things up. Got people talking. Championed those who felt different and excluded and scared the shit out of the powers that were.

Dee Snider believed in his message so much that he testified at a senate hearing against the labeling of music albums, along with gonzo musician Frank Zappa and the always dangerous John Denver.

Now I don’t know about you, but if John Denver can take a stand, then so the hell can I. Which means that you can too.

So crank this song up and laugh in defiance the next time some crypto bro or entitled Karen or TikTok Dipshit of the Month dares to sully your peaceful day. Because their trite and condescending ways won’t be tolerated any more.

But don’t take it from me, take it from the man himself: