Dee Snider — the outlandish and outspoken frontman for '80s metal band Twisted Sister — tweeted over the weekend that he's all in favor of Ukraine adopting the band's famous anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It" as its battle cry amid Russia's invasion.
"I absolutely approve of Ukrainians using 'We're Not Gonna Take It' as their battlecry," Snider tweeted Saturday. "My grandfather was Ukrainian, before it was swallowed up by the USSR after WW2. This can't happen to these people again!"
Snider added a "F***RUSSIA" hashtag to the end of his missive.
However, when it comes to folks in the anti-mask movement wanting to use "We're Not Gonna Take It" as their own rallying cry, Snider has no love for their cause. Indeed, on Sunday he added the following explanation to his Twitter page:
He explained that "one use is for a righteous battle against oppression; the other is [an] infantile feet stomping against an inconvenience."
It's not like Snider can prevent "We're Not Gonna Take It" from blasting through loudspeakers at any given event, so his disagreement has no actual teeth. Rolling Stone said that earlier this month, the song was used at an anti-vaccination protest in New Zealand, and Snider responded by saying “while I may not agree with some of the things it’s used to fight, I can’t pick & choose the ones I want.”
The magazine added that when a similar protest was held in New York, Snider said he's "aware many people representing many causes use ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as their battle cry. Some I agree with & some I don’t (anti-vaxxers for example) BUT the song was designed for the listener to 'fill in the blank' (what from whom?) with their own cause.”
Anything else?
According to the New York Post, Snider has been openly anti-Russia since the days of the Cold War and commented on a photo of him wearing a “Russia Sucks” button onstage back in the late 1970s.
“My Ukrainian grandpa would have been so proud!” Snider tweeted Sunday.
Image source: Twitter, redacted
But when a Twitter user posited that Russian citizens didn't have a choice in the war that President Vladimir Putin started, Snider fired back:
Then when a user told Snider she's a young Russian woman protesting against the war and getting arrested for it, Snider agreed to stop using the "F***RUSSIA" hashtag in favor of a "F***PUTIN" one.
“And change will come from the young and young at heart," he added to the twee. "It’s never easy."
Here's the iconic official music video "We're Not Gonna Take It" featuring Mark Metcalf hilariously reprising his Doug Neidermeyer character from "Animal House":
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take it (Extended Version) (Official Music Video)youtu.be
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