After Mitt Romney’s campaign was asked to stop using one of Silversun Pickups’ song, Paul Ryan is now facing the same music. Twisted Sister said “no” to Paul Ryan and asked the campaign to stop using the band’s 1984 song “We’re Not Gonna Take It”.
Paul Ryan has been playing the rock card for a while now. The Republican made his love of metal and classic rock public, certainly in the hope that would make him just a bit more popular among voters. But musicians had another thing coming, as Paul Ryan has been jilted by some of the stars he fancied. Twisted Sister is just the latest band to say “no” to Paul Ryan.
Dee Snider, singer and songwriter for Twisted Sister, asked the Paul Ryan campaign to stop using one of the band’s song. At a rally in Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney’s vice president was accompanied by Twisted Sister’s song.
“I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan’s use of my song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It” as recorded by my band Twisted Sister” said Dee Snider on his website. “There is almost nothing on which I agree with Paul Ryan, except perhaps the use of the P90X”, the workout program.
But Twisted Sister’s request to cease and desist playing their hit song at Paul Ryan rallies was a lot more polite than what Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello had to say about the VP. In an article for Rolling Stone magazine published August 16, Tom Morello slammed Paul Ryan’s love for Rage Against the Machine.
“Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades” the band’s guitarist said in the Rolling Stone article.
Mitt Romney has been getting its own share of scrutiny from artists enraged about illicit use of their songs. Earlier this year, Cyndi Lauper made it clear she doesn’t want Mitt Romney using her song, “True Colors”. “Mr. Romney can discredit himself without the use of my work” said Lauper.
Just last month, Mitt Romney entered a short controversy with band Silversun Pickups. The campaign used the band’s song “Panic Switch” at an event which prompted band members to make a cease and desist request worrying fans might think they were endorsing Mitt Romney.