Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take It | 1 Hit WONDERful

In the 12^th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2024), we highlight “We’re Not Gonna Take It” performed by Twisted Sister.

It only takes ONE hit to solidify a musical legacy 💯! On 1 Hit WONDERful, we highlight songs that were the SOLE hit by a given musician.  To be fair, it is possible that the artists appearing on this list earned a minor hit or two, BUT for the most part, it’s that ONE hit that earned them recognition. So, in the 12^th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2024) we dive into “We’re Not Gonna Take It”,  the one hit wonder by Twisted Sister.

“Now drop and give me twenty!” When you mention the name Twisted Sister, the first song that comes to mind is “We’re Not Gonna Take It”.  “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was one of three songs by the heavy metal band to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Leader of the Pack” and “I Wanna Rock”). HOWEVER, only the song at hand reached the top-40 of the pop charts, peaking at no. 21. Furthermore, “We’re Not Gonna Take It’ is the sole song by Twister Sister to be certified by the RIAA, reaching gold status.  It should come as no surprise that the single bolstered its parent album, Stay Hungry, which is the sole multiplatinum LP by the band.

So, what makes “We’re Not Gonna Take It” the whale of a hit that it is? Well, Dee Snider deserves lots of credit.  He not only wrote the song but also provided those high-flying vocals.  The best part of the song is the chorus, which is catchy as albeit:

“Oh, we’re not gonna take it

No, we ain’t gonna take it

Oh, we’re not gonna take it anymore.”

Poetic, isn’t it? No, not particularly, but when it comes to sing-along choruses, this is one of the quintessential ones! The verses have more meat on the bone regarding lyrics.  “We’ve got the right to choose, and / There ain’t no way we’ll lose it,” Snider snarls in the first verse, later adding, “We’ll fight the powers that be, just / Don’t pick our destiny.” Word! In the second verse, he asserts, “Oh, you’re so condescending / Your gall is never ending / We don’t want anything, not a thing from you.” WOO! The music is as assertive and amped up as the lyrics – “WE’RE RIGHT! (YEAH!) / WE’RE FREE! (YEAH!) / WE’LL FIGHT! (YEAH!) / YOU’LL SEE! (YEAH!).”  The music includes some mean guitar playing (and soloing), and pummeling drums that hit you right in the chest.  Did Twister Sister deserve more pop hits? Probably, but when you have a timeless hit like “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, honestly, it easily cements your musical legacy.

Twisted Sister // Stay Hungry // Atlantic // 1984

Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take It: 1 Hit WONDERful No. 12 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic; Elias Souza from Pexels; OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]