Dee Snider to Paul Ryan: Stop playing ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’

Pretty soon, the only songs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan might be able to play will be the collected works of Hank Williams Jr. and Ted Nugent, at least judging by a statement Dee Snider made Wednesday morning.

After learning that Republican vice presidential hopeful Ryan had been warming up crowds with “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” the lead singer of Twisted Sister requested that the song be pulled from Ryan’s playlist.

This comes after Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello wrote an editorial denouncing Ryan after learning that the candidate was a Rage fan; and after L.A. band Silversun Pickups decried Ryan’s campaign for using their “Panic Switch.”

Twisted Sister’s 1984 hair metal song, which has sold more than 8 million copies, is one of the heartiest workout anthems of that decade. Perhaps this is why Ryan, an avowed weighlifting fanatic, has used it to get the crowd pumped.

But Snider, who was a vocal supporter of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California gubernatorial campaign (and even sang a duet of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” with the future governor in 2003), isn’t happy about it. He issued the following statement Wednesday morning, replete with a body-building joke:

“I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan’s use of my song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as recorded by my band Twisted Sister. There is almost nothing on which I agree with Paul Ryan, except perhaps the use of the P90X.”

P90X, for the lazy and hungover among you, is a workout regimen that promises to get you into tip-top shape within eight grueling weeks. Which means that if you get to work now, you can get Ryan-esque ab muscles before the election 12 weeks from now.

But if you’re a Republican running for office, you may want to do it without the music of Twisted Sister. (Note to Ryan’s campaign: The Dixie Chicks are probably not the way to go, either.)

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Twitter: @liledit