"Under the Blade" was a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 released by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...

 in 1979. In 1982, the song was used as the title track for their debut album, Under the Blade

Under the Blade

Under the Blade is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released on Secret Records on September 18, 1982. . It featured a very brutal and rough sound which was eventually totally ignored on a remixed re-release by Atlantic Records on July 14, 1985...

.

In 1985, the Parents Music Resource Center

Parents Music Resource Center

The Parents Music Resource Center was an American committee formed in 1985 with the goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent, have drug use or be sexual.The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice...

 named "Under the Blade" as one of Twisted Sister's objectionable songs, claiming that the song was about sadomasochism, bondage

Bondage (BDSM)

Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

, and rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

. However the group's frontman and the song's author, Dee Snider

Dee Snider

Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...

, vehemently denied the claims and repeatedly stated—including in memorable testimony before a United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 committee in response to questioning by Senator Albert Gore, Jr.— that the song was actually about surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 (specifically Eddie Ojeda

Eddie Ojeda

Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda is one of the two guitarists of the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister....

's throat operation at the time) and the fear it can instill in people.