The History Of Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It Explained

In an interview with Song Facts, Dee Snider stated that "We're Not Gonna Take It" wasn't written with anything specific in mind. Instead, it was something that listeners can interpret on their own and apply to a situation they were in. "It was important not to define it by actually naming names and singing, 'Dad, you're so trite and jaded, I hate my teachers, too.' And thus, the song has had a life in sporting events, at political rallies, at protests, pretty much anybody who's not taking something from somebody else, they're going to break into 'We're Not Gonna Take It' all over the world," Snider said.

And indeed, the song became a battle cry for different sporting events and political rallies. In fact, Donald Trump used the song with permission from Snider during his campaign in 2016. However, per NPR, months later, Snider saw that he didn't agree with Trump's politics, so he called him up and asked him to stop using "We're Not Gonna Take It," and he complied. The song was also used by Ukrainians in their fight against Russian invaders in 2022, and this time, Snider gave them his full support. In a tweet, Snider said, "I absolutely approve of Ukrainians using 'We're Not Gonna Take It' as their battlecry."