Twisted Sister's 'We're Not Gonna Take it' becomes protest anthem for Ukrainians

As the Russian military continues its assault on Ukraine, the 1984 hit song, "We’re Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister has becxjmtzywome an unofficial anthem for Ukrainians protesting the invasion.

Dee Snider, the band’s lead singer, tweeted in support of the Ukrainians last week, saying, "I absolutely approve of Ukrainians using ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as their battlecry," adding that his grandfather was Ukrainian.

Twisted Sister guitarist and founding member Jay Jay French says its "an incredibly fulfilling feeling" to know that the song is having an impact.

"When I was 20, did I think I’d be in a band that would create a song that would wind up being so important … that it could be used as a uniting anthem? I would’ve said that’s crazy," he told CTV News Channel on Friday.

French says he’s not surprised by the impact that the track has had, given that the band has performed the song over 9,000 times in packed stadiums around the world over the last five decades.

"Because we played stadiums for many, many years, we would see 100,000 people singing the song in unison around the world, and it was changed in different languages. So, we kind of knew the universal impact of the song," he said.

But Snider hasn’t endorsed the use of the song for every protest. In September 2020, when anti-mask activists sang the song at a demonstration inside a Florida Target store, Snider said the protesters "do not have my permission or blessing to use my song for their moronic cause."

Snider also said on Twitter last week that the Ukrainians were fighting "a righteous battle against oppression" while calling the anti-maskers "infantile feet stomping against an inconvenience."

French takes a different view, acknowledging that the song has been used by people across the political spectrum.

"There have been a couple of occasions in which Dee has voiced support for certain political positions because people have taken that song, but it doesn’t matter what his position is or my position is. If the song represents something for you … we understand that and we have to accept it," he said.

French said he hopes that the Russian attacks on Ukraine come to a quick end and believes that music could play a part in bringing peace.

"To the extent where music can maybe stop bullets and bombs, maybe this is part of it," French said. "We hope that this ends quickly and that the Ukrainians can survive this horrible onslaught against democracy.

People are asking me why I endorsed the use of "We’re Not Gonna Take It" for the Ukrainian people and did not for the anti-maskers. Well, one use is for a righteous battle against oppression; the other is a infantile feet stomping against an inconvenience.
— Dee Snider�� (@deesnider) February 27, 2022

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