DEE SNIDER Is 'Stunned' By The Life Of 'We're Not Gonna Take It': 'It's Practically A Folk Song At This Point'

During an appearance on the "Midday With Jayme & Grayson" podcast, TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider spoke about his steadfast support of the people of Ukraine using the band's "We're Not Gonna Take It" as their battle cry anthem. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been stunned by the life the song's had [and] what it's become. It's practically a folk song at this point. Anytime anybody isn't taking something from somebody, they're screaming, 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. On the left they're screaming it, on the right they're screaming, at sporting events they're screaming it, and now on the front lines, in the battle for their lives, they're singing it. So, it's an honor, it's a pleasure, it's shocking.

"I deliberately left the message [of the song] wide open," he explained. "I was pissed off with my father, but I said, 'You know what, I'm not gonna say my dad's name.' 'Dad, I'm not gonna take it from you.' No, we'll leave it for people to put their situation in. But I never imagined it would go this far and become that kind of a song."

Dee told "As It Happens" why he's glad Ukrainians have found inspiration in "We're Not Gonna Take It" as they fight a Russian invasion: "It was designed to be a song where people can read their personal strife and struggle, whether it's your teachers or your parents or your government or an invasion — whatever. But then I started to get some people asking me, 'Well, how can you support that, but you know, you denounced the anti-maskers?' I was processing it and I was about to head out the door to get Saturday-morning bagels for my family, and I said, you know: This is why. And I wrote it down. And I came back a couple of hours later and opened up my Twitter feed, and it exploded, and I said: 'Whoa!' I didn't realize I sort of hit the nail on the head. One group are fighting for their lives against oppression and tyranny for real. It's a life and death situation. The other group are screaming that they're being oppressed because they're being asked to wear a piece of paper over their nose and mouth to protect others. It's just so ludicrous, you know? And when you put that kind of perspective on it, it looks embarrassing when you see these true people fighting for their lives, struggling for their lives in the Ukraine, and you get these silly people … stamping their feet like little children."

"We're Not Gonna Take It", the biggest hit single in TWISTED SISTER's career, has been used in commercials for hotel chain Extended Stay America, Claritin, Walmart, Stanley Steamer and Yaz birth control.

The song's lyrics say in part "Oh you're so condescending/Your gall is never ending/We don't want nothin'/Not a thing from you."

"We're Not Gonna Take It" was written solely by Snider. As influences for the song, he previously cited the glam rock band SLADE, the punk band SEX PISTOLS, and the Christmas carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful".

TWISTED SISTER called it quits in 2016 after completing a farewell 40th-anniversary tour. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.