So this is a little unusual – an artist covering a song he originally wrote and performed with another band? Well, why not? When you’ve written one of the best known and best loved rock anthems of all time, then run with it.
There’s more to this release as well. It will feature on Snider’s upcoming solo album, We Are The Ones, (pre-order it [amazon text=on CD&asin=B01HP04ROW] or [amazon text=as a download&asin=B01L54FNLA] – due out on October 21st) and it’s been chosen as a “theme song” if you will for Criss Angel’s cancer awareness charity Heal Every Life Possible (HELP). Angel is a stage magician whose own son was diagnosed with cancer at only 20 months of age. He’s now two and still undergoing treatment, thankfully with a fairly positive prognosis.
Angel directed the video for this song, which features footage of his own son’s treatment as well as that of another child, Jacey Gonzalez. Jacey made it through treatment and, over the course of the video, is shown shaving her own mother’s hair.
The song, though… Good. Grief. If I’ve ever heard a more powerful and moving version of a track I can’t name it. When I first heard Snider’s vocals kick up a notch at the first chorus, every hair on my body rose up – no word of a lie. Once the meaning of the song takes hold, no longer a teenage rebellion but a scream into the face of cancer, Snider’s vocals become more important than they ever were in the past. By the time the song ended, my eyes were glistening.
On the basis of this song, Dee Snider has no worries about his upcoming solo career once Twisted Sister play their final show. Here’s hoping that the exposure given to childhood cancer gives an increase in fortunes of those affected by it also.
You can donate to HELP if you’re US-based, or in the UK there are other options including the Teenage Cancer Trust, Children With Cancer, CLIC Sargent, Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group… Do a google search for “child cancer charity uk” and find one that you feel deserves your cash.
