Independence Day by Martina McBride

Album: The Way That I Am (1994)

Charted: 12

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Gretchen Peters wrote this song from the point of view of an 8-year-old girl. Looking back, she thinks maybe it wasn't coincidental. Speaking with Songfacts, she explained that she was 8 years old when her parents split up, "So I did kind of have some kind of emotional grounding to understand at least how it feels from a child's point of view to have their world just come apart like that, and feel that things are out of control, and they're just in the way. I had some understanding of that. I think I did that subconsciously, but very purposefully, so that I could dig my teeth into it. Because I could understand that."

"This was another one of those songs that took a long time to tell me how it wanted to end, how it was going to end," she added. "The chorus's idea is what happened for me first. And really, the chorus doesn't tell you a whole lot, it was just a series of images, and there wasn't much narrative there. So for a while I sort of struggled with, well, what is this about? What is this? The whole idea of independence on a more personal level for one person, for a woman, that sort of became clear to me.

And a woman that is in a dire situation. And when I sort of got a handle on that, I was off and running, really, with the verses. Except for the fact that I couldn't end it. I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to end. That was really problematic for me. I think I knew in my bones how it was going to end. I was struggling with that, because I was trying to find another way out, other than her burning the house down. And in the end, I just thought, Nope, this is what happens in this particular story. I think it was compelling for people probably because there was no pat ending, it didn't work out all right. It's a terrible, terrible, tragic thing. And I found it ironic, really, that I struggled so long with that ending trying to find another way out, and afterwards I thought, Well, it's kind of like the character in the song, I'm sure she looked for a way out, every other possible way, before she made that choice."

Peters says it was in her mind that the female character in the song dies in the fire, but "that little piece of information was for me. It's kind of like when actors talk about how they get a script, and they read about the character, and sometimes they'll write an entire outline of this character's life with details that you never hear about in the movie, ultimately. But they need that for them. And I needed that for me in this case. In 'Independence Day' she sacrificed herself, as well. But I didn't need it to be in the song. I needed it for me just simply to go all the way inside emotionally. Again, it's been interpreted both ways."
Although Peters herself has never been in the situation this song defines, she has certainly seen enough to know what the effects are. About domestic violence, Peters says that this song really hit home to a lot of women. "People ask me, of course, all the time, 'Do you have any experience with this? Is this part of your history? Was there abuse in your family?' All that," she says. "And there was none of that. That wasn't anything that I had any familiarity with except for the outrage that anybody ought to feel knowing that it exists."
Singer Martina McBride is the spokesperson for many domestic abuse charities, among them: the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and the Tulsa Domestic Violence and Intervention Services. She has dedicated herself to the plight of women and children in emotional and physically abusive relationships. And her recording of this song has had a resounding effect on domestic abuse awareness. Along with songwriter Gretchen Peters, they have raised many hundreds of thousands of dollars for various causes having to do with domestic abuse; whether it be alcoholism, drug abuse, physical, and/or emotional.

Peters says, "We've done a bunch of benefit things for various causes having to do with that. Police working on domestic abuse cases, that sort of thing. But Martina's really taken the banner. She's really made it something amazing. It's part of her work."

"I can't tell you the number of times I've done that song and had a woman come up to me at the end of a show, trying to keep it together and then just losing it and crying. And I usually know, I usually just can feel it. I know what it means, and it's usually that she's been through a situation like that. Or in some cases I've met women who've lost sisters in similar situations. And it's the most powerful thing, it's the most humbling thing. Because you've told this story, and you get emotionally involved with it, but it's still fiction. And these people have lived it. And they feel safe enough and open enough to come to you and just be that vulnerable in front of you, and share these incredibly painful and deeply personal memories with you. It's quite something. It used to make me slightly uncomfortable, because I didn't know what to say or do. I guess I'm just a people pleaser and wanted to make it okay or something. And you can't make something like that okay. And now I guess I've taken on a little bit more grace about it, and I just usually give them a hug. Because what can you do? What can you really do? You can just share that moment with them. And that's really what they want. They just want to tell their story, and I think that's why people respond to music and to songs like that, because they tell the story for them in a sense, in a way that maybe they can't."
Peters makes a vocal appearance in the Martina McBride video for this song. It's her voice singing "Amazing Grace" in the very beginning. And she says it was a humbling experience. "It's very rare as a writer that you get a chance to hear your song, or you come even close to hearing your song as though you'd never heard it before. But I'll tell you, I worked on the video, and when I first saw the video, when I sat down and they showed it to me, I cried, too. It really moved me."

The scene for the burning of the house was shot once - they had only one house to burn. Martina determined to get the take the first time, because there would not be a second. Naturally, she nailed it.
The video for this song won Music Video of the Year in 1994 at the Country Music Association Awards.
Conservative radio talk show host Sean Hannity started using the chorus of this song as his introduction music in 2001. Regarding Hannity playing this song, Peters told Songfacts: "They have to pay me every time they play it, and I don't have any control over whether they play it or not. I can't make them stop. I don't agree with the guy on anything. But they do pay me. I guess I feel it kind of puts me in slightly better position to support the causes I believe in. I know that he's using it, I know he's completely disregarding what the song's about. It has nothing to do with patriotism or anything like that. But that's an old story. That's a really old story. I think it was Reagan who used 'Born In The U.S.A.' for his campaign song. And I wanted to say, Hey, have you listened to that song? It's about the Vietnam War - hello? So that goes on all the time. And I just figure, as long as they pay and that gives me the wherewithal to support causes that I believe in, it all works out in the end."
American Idol Carrie Underwood did a cover of this song on the show during competition, then after she won, she recorded her own single of it. Gretchen confesses to having heard Underwood's version only one time - and only part of it. "I don't watch TV at all, and my friend called me - my friend who's really addicted to American Idol - called me and said, 'Carrie Underwood's doing your song.' And I asked him, 'What are you talking about?' I really hadn't watched. I had no idea what kind of a phenomenon American Idol was. I had no real idea. And I ran to the TV and turned it on, and realized I don't know what channel it's on, and I missed the whole thing. And then I guess she did it one more time, she only did like a part of it at the end, I guess. And I did see that. And that's the only time I've ever heard it. But she's quite a singer."

Underwood's version was not widely released, and Peters doesn't even have a copy. "That's sad, isn't it?" she says with a laugh. "They should send me one. It's the least they could do. But I mean, I just remember basically hearing that one part of it on TV the one time. It was really funny, too, because my friend was trying to convey to me, 'You don't understand - millions of people are watching this.' And I was like, 'Really? Really?' That song's had so many lives, it's just amazing."
"Independence Day" has become an anthem for Fourth of July celebrations, but its use in patriotic settings strikes Gretchen Peters as "a bit awkward," given its raw and painful subject matter of domestic abuse. Over time, the song's appropriation for these occasions left Peters feeling distanced from her own work.

Speaking with The Tennessean, Peters revealed how she found a way to reclaim the song - and its original intent - thanks to a suggestion from her husband. "Over the years, I started to feel a little bit disconnected from it because of those kinds of uses," she said. "I had to figure out how to play it so that I could get myself back to the frame of mind where I was when I wrote it."

Comments: 21

Former Mcbride Fan from UsaMartina McBride sings, "Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong / But maybe it's the only way". Really? Sounds like a LIE to me. The song sounds like a rousing anthem in the name of killing the husband and possibly even committing suicide (although Martina McBride has claimed that the woman doesn't die in the fire), presumably so that the 8-year-old child can live a better life than if weighed down by the situation (abuse and lack of cohesion and love in the family), although there is no indication in the lyrics that the husband may have intentionally abused the daughter. "Even though *she* was on the losin' end" is indicating that the woman was abused by the "dangerous man", but there's no indication that there was direct abuse of the daughter. So, once again: "I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong..." Really? OK, then, why the rousing celebration, if the words "I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong" were genuine words? Why the bells that sound like church bells? Why the attempt at powerful, rousing vocals? And then, let's consider: Martina McBride has said that she's received letters from women abused by their men in their lives. Has the song actually helped them? Really? How so? I don't know how it has helped any women. And why has the song's writer (Gretchen Peters) donated to an organization (Planned Parenthood) that kills innocent babies? If the songwriter (Peters) is to be so admonished, why has she contributed to a group that has killed hundreds of thousands of babies in abortions? That makes Gretchen Peters someone who is Pro-Abortion. And not Pro-Life.
Former Mcbride Fan from California, UsaRegarding the song "Independence Day" by Martina McBride. Gretchen Peters wrote the song and has performed it on acoustic guitar. A Songfacts user here posted a purported quote by Gretchen Peters, who was born in New York and who wrote the song. The quote purportedly has Peters saying that she got some sort of gratification of having been paid by Hannity's radio show whenever the song was played, purportedly because it helped her with one or more of her causes. Now, we get to the nitty gritty. One of the causes of Gretchen Peters has fought for, is Pro-Abortion rights. Gretchen Peters is a staunch Pro-Abortion advocate. The Zygote is innocent. Why are adults punishing the innocent? One important fact about aborting a baby when the act of coitus by the mother and the father was consensual, and that the mother and father were previously unrelated, is this: the Zygote has all four (4) criteria necessary to establish itself as a human creature. A human creature. That's what a Zygote is, according to science. The Zygote contains 100% of the DNA need to qualify itself as a human being. Gretchen Peters either thinks she knows science, or doesn't care. And so every time the song "Independence Day" by Martina McBride is played on the air on radio, it's very likely that Gretchen Peters still gets money for it. And then, it's very likely that she takes that money and gives it to groups who have killed innocent Zygotes.
Former Mcbride Fan from California, UsaThe elephant in the room with the song "Independence Day" is that the woman takes a torch, and burns down the house with the husband inside, making sure that his body is torched and incinerated and obliterated to smithereens. That's what this song is about. It's a celebration of an incineration of a human being's body. The woman took the law into her own hands. And there you have it. She torched his body, and maybe she watched his flesh be obliterated to smithereens. There is no indication in the song that, in the act of killing the husband, the woman was, at that time, acting in self-defense. Therefore, I would argue that the song is about manslaughter, at the very least.
Todd Songwriter from CaliforniaTo Max in regards to what the song is about: What you're saying is not the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is whether this song arguably is an anthem for, at the least, manslaughter. And y'all are celebrating the manslaughter? The song claims, "I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong". That's a lie! Liar Liar Pants on Fire! You are celebrating the manslaughter! What a crock of bull. 99% of Martina Fans out there realize that this song is arguably advocating charges for intentional killing of another person. Why didn't she take her daughter? Why didn't they run away? But no. The singer is proud. This song begs the question.
Todd Songwriter from CaliforniaI don't know where Martina McBride and Gretchen Peters have actually answered the tough questions. Let's assume, for the moment, whether this song arguably advocates for, at the least, manslaughter. If you intentionally burned down a house with me inside, I might die in the fire. And seriously? You're my daughter, and you're celebrating the manslaughter? Seriously?
Camille from Toronto, Oh"Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay." The abuser pays for his sins and also the abused wife pays for her radical actions with her life. Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. "Maybe it's the only way." Martina spectacularly captures the emotion when her voice cracks the last time she cries, "Let the wind Be-EE strong!" Strong winds fan the flames. Let everything crash and burn; you see the fury. Let the winds of change be strong, too; let's work towards better support for domestic violence victims.
Camille from Toronto, OhIn 1994 when Independence Day was released, domestic violence was big in the news because of OJ Simpson. It was the year he was charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman who were killed in June 12, 1994. As the story unfolded, the public was made aware of Simpson’s extensive history of domestic violence towards Nicole.
Camille from Toronto, OhIndependence Day—
CMA Video of the Year, 1994
CMA Song of the Year 1995 for songwriter Gretchen Peters.
In 2003, it ranked 50th in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music.
In 2004, this ranked #2 in CMT's 100 Greatest Videos in Country Music.
In 2014, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song #77 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.
Howard from Los Angeles, CaI would like to say that, first, this is a truly beautiful, evocative song. Kudos to Gretchen Peters. And,
like her, I too despise Sean Hannity. He is a true male bimbo and does nothing but create divisiveness
among Americans. But I disagree that this song is not about patriotism. It is a tragic twist of a classic
American phrase ... Independence Day ... whose power to evoke emotion would not even exist if we
had not fought a bloody war to gain a measure of independence. Of course, that revolution has long
since been sold out and women, who are victimized by their males, pay the price of the sell-out.
"Indepence Day" and "Born in the USA" are both phrases fraught with latent patriotic emotions
and both are tragic commentaries on modern America. The real gist of songs like these have more
to do with the fact that Americans have lost control of their destiny .. than with the victims they
portray. Wake up, people. It's getting late.
Don from Fairbanks, AlbaniaIndependence Day is a song about becoming independent about anything. It can be 4th of July, abuse, a bad habit you quit, a sin you repented from.Anything that you broke free from.
It no longer controls your life, You now have Independence Day.
Karen from Manchester, NhMax, have you never thought that maybe the crowd went nuts over the song because they KNOW and LIKE the song? If you're going to have such a low opinion of your audience, maybe you shouldn't be a performer. Also, if you look at JUST the chorus apart from the verses, the words ARE very patriotic. It's call "irony".
Ra from Asheville, NcIt is pretty hilarious how often this gets mistaken for a generic patriotic song...
Roy from Virginia, Va Martina McBride's signature song,she has the listener captivated throughout.
Roy from Virginia, VaThe best song ever about spousal abuse,Martina McBride, being very conscious of the world around her has covered a myriad of subjects in her songs and has done it well.
Rick from Kansa City, Ks The musician who called his listeners ignorant stupes is an a hole musician. That's no way to refer to your audience.
Pete Hines from Tulsa, OkEugene Darrell you are an idiot, no one cares about your studebaker-- Great song, probably one of the strongest vocal performances ever. The clarity of her voice is unequaled, and the power is magnifcaint, I wish there were more performances by Martina McBride that allowed for her to belt it out like she does this song.
Steve from Hermitage, TnNashville singer/songwriter Helen Lewis Moore did a parody of this song called "Codependence Day" on her 2006 solo album "Harold". It's told from the point of view of a woman who keeps compromising for the sake of her no-good boyfriend.
Cindi from Seattle, WaThe first time I heard Martina McBride sing "Independence Day" was on Sean Hannity's radio show. It prompted me to search out the lyrics. I was not surprised when I read them. I think everyone has their own personal story of Independence. If you're a contemplative person, on the 4th of July you are not only celebrating our nation's independence, but all the freedoms afforded to yourself personally through that. So I think it's appropriate to celebrate the song "Independence Day" on the 4th of July to remind yourself that you don't have to be a prisoner to anyone or anything--you are free! (In my mind, in the video the mom is seen in the background as the smoke clears and she and the daughter go off to have a peaceful life together.)
Max from Philipsburg, PaThere is a cruel ignorance in the public music listener. I bet 99% of the people who listen to Sean Hannity's radio show have no idea that Independence Day isn't a patriotic song. I bet a large portion of McBride's fans don't pay any attention to what the song is about. As a musician in a band, I can tell you I am amazed at how ignorant and unobservant listeners are. Most of them say, "Oh, I never listen to the words anyway."

As a bit of anecdotal evidence, my band played a July 4th Festival, and we did Independence Day. I said, "They'll never notice, ignorant stupes. They'll love it just because it says "Independence Day" in the words."

Guess what, I was dang right. It went over big. Nobody has any idea what the song is about.
Pathetic, really.
Camille from Toronto, OhAn all-time classic. The video shot in black and white, well, that clinced the deal, giving that timeless appeal and a dramatic effect. McBride's voice mixed with Gretchen Peter's lyrics are P U R E perfection. No bout a dout it.
Darrell from EugeneI don't know how much it was, but the damn bicycle from the video's burn scene fetched a five-figure price at auction several years ago. All that money for a 1970-something little girl's bicycle? My God! I recently found a 1932 Studebaker sedan that was very similar to my first car except for having the original drivetrain rather than a Rambler (AMC) V-8 and push-button shift in a Hemmings magazine ad for that much, and a '32 Studebaker is a sound investment.

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