United Australia Party leader Clive Palmer has found himself in hot water with American heavy metal band Twisted Sister after a jingle he used in a recent campaign sounded remarkably similar to their hit song, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’.
By now, people across Australia have probably seen the campaigns circulating on TV and social media that feature what sounds like a very familiar tune.
The jingle that plays in the campaign contains the lyrics: “Australia ain’t gonna cop it, no, Australia’s not gonna cop it, Aus is not gonna cop it anymore.”
Of course, the actual lyrics of Twisted Sister’s song are: “We’re not gonna take it, no, we ain’t gonna take it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFtLrB6Z5HI
Palmer has been using the jingle to promote an array of things his party believes Australians are sick of. This includes everything from taxpayer money funding politicians who weren’t eligible for election, the rollout of the NBN and the fact that the nation has had five prime ministers in five years.
Singer for Twisted Sister Dee Snider shared a message on Twitter confirming his band did not approve Palmer using their song.
“No we do not endorse @PalmerUtdParty!” he wrote. “We are contacting our legal team to address this and if that doesn’t work…I’LL BE DOWN UNDER IN THREE WEEKS TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF!”
No we do not endorse @PalmerUtdParty! We are contacting our legal team to address this and if that doesn't work…I'LL BE DOWN UNDER IN THREE WEEKS TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF! https://t.co/h9T2O2GAkQ
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) January 1, 2019
In a further tweet, he explained that the song wasn’t Palmer’s to use.
“‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ is a song about EVERYONE’s right to free choice,” he explained. “‘We’ve got the right to chose and there ain’t no way we’ll lose it!’ The FIRST line of the first verse!
“Clive Palmer and the @PalmerUtdParty are NOT pro choice…so THIS AIN’T HIS SONG!”
"We're Not Gonna Take It" is a song about EVERYONE'S right to free choice. "We've got the right to chose and there ain't no way we'll lose it!" The FIRST LINE of the first verse! Clive Palmer and the @PalmerUtdParty are NOT pro choice…so THIS AIN'T HIS SONG!
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) January 2, 2019
Meanwhile, guitarist Jay Jay French also said his band didn’t endorse Clive Palmer.
“Twisted Sister does not endorse Australian politician Clive Palmer, never heard of him and was never informed of Clive Palmer’s use pf a re-written version of our song,” he said. “We receive no money from its use and we are investigating how we can stop it.”
Twisted Sister does not endorse Australian politician Clive Palmer, never heard of him and was never informed of Clive Palmer's use of a re -written version of our song Were Not Gonna Take It.
We receive no money from its use and we are investigating how we can stop it.— Jay Jay French (@jayjayfrench) January 1, 2019
Clive has since dismissed the use of the song in his party’s campaigns. In a statement sent to website 10 Daily, he claimed he owned copyright for the song he wrote.
“I wrote the words personally that appear on our promotion and hold the copyright for those words,” he said in a statement.
He also took aim at the band, claiming Twisted Sister hadn’t been able to sell tickets for their upcoming Australian tour.
It’s not the first time Palmer has found himself in trouble with music artists. Just last year, British pop rock band Chumbawamba asked Palmer to stop using their hit song ‘Tubthumping’ with famous lyrics “I get knocked down, but I get up again” from his campaigns.
At the time of publication, that ad was still live on Palmer’s social media pages.
I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down.#MakeTownsvilleGreat #3000jobs #PutPoliticsAside pic.twitter.com/gurZ5JpgwM
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) July 17, 2018
The debate was a hot topic on Thursday’s episode of Sunrise, with the panel suggesting Palmer has a tough case on his hands.
Clive Palmer and Twisted Sister are locked in a battle of words, with Palmer accused of re-writing the heavy metal band's hit song ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ for his campaign ads. pic.twitter.com/XRxiUiYalb
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) January 2, 2019
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