When we were young kids, my friend, Noel, and I were sitting around and talking about what we wanted to do when we grew up. Noel was pretty succinct: "I wanna to find a cure for cancer." I was blown away, "Whoa. That's awesome." Even though we were still preteens, we nevertheless realized what a bastard this disease was. Apart from Dad's father, a man I'd unfortunately never met, I'm not aware of anyone in either his family or mine that had succumbed to cancer, yet the two of us agreed this was a dragon that needed slaying.
Sadly, our lives have not remained unsullied by this affliction, and we all know someone whose life has been thrown into turmoil because of this disease. Two years ago, Andrea lost a dear friend to long undiagnosed metastatic breast cancer. Just recently, a woman she was very close to and has known since college lost her struggle with the exact same malady. Even now we have friends and classmates currently embroiled in their own ongoing battles with surgery, chemo, and radiation. Joyously, some emerged as survivors bearing the scars, both physical and psychological, as badges of honor.
In its initial 1984 debut, Dee Snider and Twisted Sister presented "We're Not Gonna Take It" as an anti establishment, anti authority hard rock rallying cry. Reinforced by heavy war paint and frizzed out hair, the band and the original release epitomized everything your parents feared from rock, rockers, and their seedy influence. You can check out the original release here in all its flamboyant 80's glory. It even made the list of Tipper Gore's most offensive songs in her Senate hearing testimony requesting warning labels be attached to albums with explicit lyrics.
The song continued to intertwine itself in American politics. Snider nixed the idea of Paul Ryan using it during the 2012 election.
"I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan's use of my band Twisted Sister's song 'We're Not Gonna Take It' in any capacity. There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with except the use of the [workout program] P90X."In the 2016 election, Snider briefly gave his blessing to the Trump campaign.
"The song 'We're Not Gonna Take It' is a song about rebellion, and there's nothing more rebellious than what Donald Trump is doing right now. Although Bernie Sanders can use it as well; he's turning things upside down, too."While he considered Trump a personal friend, he eventually rescinded his permission citing disagreement with many of Trump's political tenets.
The nature of the song changed in 2016. That year, Snider allowed his friend, Chris Angel, to use it as the anthem for his charity, HELP (Heal Every Life Possible), dedicated to promoting pediatric cancer research. Snider released an acoustic version of "We're Not Gonna Take It" featuring just a piano and his own powerful voice. In its stripped down form, the song became one of ardent defiance and refusal to concede even one more life to cancer. We all continue to support friends and family still in the fight and look forward to the day that they, too, emerge as survivors.
If you'd like to play a part in slaying this dragon and support patients and researchers on the front line of this crusade, I encourage you to consider supporting the following organizations along with HELP:
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