We're Not Gonna Take It (4:37)

“We’re Not Gonna Take It” is a 1984 hit song by the American glam metal/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).