“We’ve got the right to choose it
There ain’t no way we’ll lose it
This is our life, this is our song”
From “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister’s 1984 album Stay Hungry was certainly the band’s defining musical statement. Decades later, on the strength of hit songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “I Wanna Rock” and “Stay Hungry,” Stay Hungry remains a classic, with Rolling Stone calling it one of the best metal albums of all time.
But in talking with Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider, on the Hardcore Humanism Podcast, I realized that Stay Hungry was much more than a musical statement – one could argue that it was a manifesto whereby Twisted Sister provided a blueprint for metalheads everywhere on how to embrace their individuality, defy conventional norms and stereotypes, and never stop rocking – ever. And with his new album For The Love of Metal Live and solo single “Prove Me Wrong,” Snider continues to celebrate the enduring power of the magnificent beast of heavy metal culture that he has championed and nurtured.
‘I’m Not Going to be a Nobody’
For Snider, being a metalhead meant not only embracing the music but also defiantly being an individual – I consider this to be the first element of his metalhead manifesto. And this meant trying to fight against fading away into the background as metalheads were often relegated to the shadows.
“It was more of being an individual … And the music helped to find that for me for sure. I remember very clearly, at 16 … I found myself fading away … because I didn’t look like everybody else. Because I didn’t quite fit in with any group. I was … very much an outcast,” he told me. “The old term was wallflower – you’re someone who’s in the background and not noticed. And at 16, I had this epiphany where I said I shall not go silently into the night, I’m not going to be a nobody, I’m not going to be unrecognizable, whether they like it or not, they’re going to have to acknowledge that I exist.”
As Snider and Twisted Sister crafted their stage persona, this meant doing something that was uncommon in metal – dressing in women’s clothes and makeup. “Going out of my way to be more recognized, to be more notable … rather than just become nothing … Just because you don’t fit in some box… does not mean that you don’t have a place in this world. And maybe the box is just you, but so be it. But do not allow yourself to be just forced into the background to become this nobody,” Snider described. “Twisted Sister came out saying we will not be ignored. What’s the most cheapest, most outrageous thing we can do? And we started literally wearing women’s clothing and with a chip on our shoulder … I was looking for confrontation. You can’t tell me how I can or cannot look. You cannot tell me how I can or cannot play. You cannot tell me how I can or cannot act and it became sort of a battle cry for the band.”
This defiance touched a nerve for many metal fans, even if they did not necessarily embrace the external manifestation of Twisted Sister’s image. “Our fans … they didn’t dress up like us. There wasn’t a bunch of people wearing makeup in the audience like maybe back in the early New York Dolls days,” he said. “No, it was a bunch of blue-collar girls and guys coming to see these crazy bastards who were just defiant and being inspired by our defiance and hopefully taking that defiance back into the normal world … Now, I’m not going to put on the face full of makeup like you, but I will represent what you believe because I believe that too.”
‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’
One of the most striking things that Snider explained during our conversation was the extent to which metalheads were not simply outsiders – they were shunned as ignorant and violent. And the second element of Snider’s metalhead manifesto – perhaps best captured in their song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – was to challenge these stereotypes.
“I was on a mission … There was this implication that somehow … you were not as smart as other people. You are not as good as other people … There was a lot of negative thoughts and ideas connected to loving heavy metal. And I was very much out to prove that they were not mutually exclusive,” Snider said. “You could be an intelligent person. You could be a kind person. You could be a Christian person. You could be a father, a mother, whatever, and still love this powerful, powerful angry – a lot of times very angry – music.”
Challenging heavy metal stereotypes was not a passive endeavor for Snider; in 1985, he made headlines by testifying at the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) senate hearing. The PMRC included “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as part of the “Filthy 15,” a compilation of songs they argued should be labeled as explicitly violent or sexual in content and limited in terms of availability at stores and on radio and television shows.
“It gets very complicated because … it’s a first amendment issue. It’s freedom of speech … Who’s going to judge what words actually mean?” Snider asked. “I said what I do mind is how this can be used in a wrong way – and that is to prevent people from accessing art, to prevent people from getting the music. And that is what happened ultimately, the sticker that was put on there – warning Parental Advisory – was used to segregate record stores…That’s not informing parents, that is keeping art from the general public, and certain parties deciding what people will listen to and not listen to. That’s unacceptable.”
At the hearings, Twisted Sister’s song “Under the Blade” was discussed. And PMRC member Tipper Gore argued, without consulting the band, that the meaning of the song was an ode to sadomasochism and violence against women. Snider explained frankly that the song was about Twisted Sister’s guitarist Jay Jay French’s throat surgery.
“My guitar player was having throat surgery and I said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna write you a song.’ … I was seeing myself on the surgical table seeing the blade coming down to cut my throat out, you know, this kind of thing,” Snider explained. “But she listened to it and with her dirty mind, … she saw a woman’s tied up and being tortured … Like, wow, lady, what’s going on inside your head? … So, this was the big issue with that stuff, the misinterpretation.”
‘It’s Like a Cockroach’
The final element of Snider’s metalhead manifesto is that you keep supporting metal. Twisted Sister songs like “Stay Hungry” were an ode to the undying spirit of metal. Research on Spotify listening practices found that heavy metal fans were the most loyal and supportive compared to other musical genres. And there’s evidence that Snider and metalheads everywhere made the right choice. Research shows that metalheads are well-adjusted and tend to show high levels of civic engagement. And listening to extreme metal actually appears to reduce rather than increase stress.
Snider is leading by example, showing that he is still rocking hard and that metal is thriving. “Metal is alive and well. It had its worst time when it became mainstream. And I was part of that – I thought that would be a good thing for metal,” Snider said. “But when that became a thing in the late 80s, that nearly killed heavy metal for a while. But it didn’t know you can’t kill it. It’s like a cockroach. It survives. And it just went back underground, which is where it is kind of healthier. You don’t have so much on the pop charts anymore … But the audience is massive.”
By staying true to themselves, defying stereotypes and continuing to thrive, Snider and heavy metal have both won. Maybe now he’ll stop pushing so hard to be heavy metal’s champion. But I doubt he will.
And we wouldn’t want him to anyway.
Photo credit: John Raptis
