What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You)

Album: Under the Blade (1982)
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Songfacts®:

  • The first track on the first Twisted Sister album, this song begins with the line, "Welcome to our show" after a perfunctory "Good evening..."

    As might be deduced from this, it is a show opener, one the band were still using two decades on, including when they played the London Astoria in 2004.

    Written by frontman Dee Snider, the original recording runs to 4 minutes 45 seconds. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England
  • The title is a play on the phrase "what you don't know won't hurt you." The song is a rallying cry for the band, explaining that they're going to disturb some people, but they're not going anywhere. The band made good on this promise, becoming one of the most successful metal bands of the '80s, and also a polarizing one; Dee Snider testified at the PMRC hearings on the issue of putting Parental Advisory stickers on albums with offensive content. Their song "We're Not Gonna Take It" was one of 15 the PMRC cited as examples of such offensive material.

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