4th of July

Two people, a man and his wife/girlfriend have been together a long time, and the relationship has been on the rocks for a long time, and they have apparently fought recently. Both feel lost, helpless, angry, but most of all, tired and beaten down by life. He's so tired, he doesn't even know what day it is.

And yet...as he goes outside for a smoke, he sees the fireworks, realizes what day it is, and still has some hope of redemption for the relationship. They can fix this. He takes the initiative, offers apologies, reaches out to his girl to share the moment with him.

The relationship ultimately may not survive, but at this point in time, he has not given up and tries to make things right.

A great tune, with very insightful, mature lyrics. I love this song.

We could go right to the horse’s mouth since Dave has told us about this song. It’s a real event that took place in Downey when he was in his early 20’s. It took him eight years to write the song, originally for the Blasters but it wasn’t recorded beyond a demo for a Warner Brother produced by Nick Lowe and Dave was already out of the band. Dave’s version on Romeo’s escape is not the first released or recorded version. He had already recorded it with X during his time with them and the See How We Are version came out first. Regarding it being a breakup song- he said he will play it both ways. Some nights it a make up song and some nights it’s a breakup song. So everyone is right! Google “where does Dave Alvin’s 4th of July take place” and the article will come up with way more detail.

Doh! Posted that in wrong spot. Here it is in the right spot, I guess. - We could go right to the horse’s mouth since Dave has told us about this song. It’s a real event that took place in Downey when he was in his early 20’s. It took him eight years to write the song, originally for the Blasters but it wasn’t recorded beyond a demo for a Warner Brother produced by Nick Lowe and Dave was already out of the band. Dave’s version on Romeo’s escape is not the first released or recorded version. He had already recorded it with X during his time with them and the See How We Are version came out first. Regarding it being a breakup song- he said he will play it both ways. Some nights it a make up song and some nights it’s a breakup song. So everyone is right! Google “where does Dave Alvin’s 4th of July take place” and the article will come up with way more detail.

I love duhaast's summary, which is as touching as the song itself. I also like Dave Alvin's (original) version. My favorite is the line "Whatever happened...I apologize." I have this in my car and have been playing it and singing on the way to work every day. Cathartic, and John Doe's voice is amazing. Check it out if you haven't!

I have a slightly different interpretation that duhaast.

I agree completely with his first paragraph. This is clearly a couple who have been fighting for years and have been worn down to nothing but numbness.

But, rather than him not giving up, I totally think that he has just given up. So, he says he's sorry for whatever he's done, but then he tells her to "go outside and take a walk, it's the 4th of July.", meaning, you're free from this pain, it's our independence day. We're done.