Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Well, she seemed all right by dawn's early light
Though she looked a little worried and weak
She tried to pretend he wasn't drinkin' again
But daddy left the proof on her cheek
And I was only eight years old that summer
And I always seemed to be in the way
So I took myself down to the fair in town
On Independence Day
Well, word gets around in a small, small town
They said he was a dangerous man
But mama was proud and she stood her ground
She knew she was on the losin' end
Some folks whispered, some folks talked
But everybody looked the other way
And when time ran out there was no one about
On Independence Day
Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today
Is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day
Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July
By the time that the firemen come
They just put out the flames
And took down some names
And send me to the county home
Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong
But maybe it's the only way
Talk about your revolution
It's Independence Day
Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today
Is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day
Roll the stone away
It's Independence Day
Though she looked a little worried and weak
She tried to pretend he wasn't drinkin' again
But daddy left the proof on her cheek
And I was only eight years old that summer
And I always seemed to be in the way
So I took myself down to the fair in town
On Independence Day
Well, word gets around in a small, small town
They said he was a dangerous man
But mama was proud and she stood her ground
She knew she was on the losin' end
Some folks whispered, some folks talked
But everybody looked the other way
And when time ran out there was no one about
On Independence Day
Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today
Is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day
Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July
By the time that the firemen come
They just put out the flames
And took down some names
And send me to the county home
Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong
But maybe it's the only way
Talk about your revolution
It's Independence Day
Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today
Is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day
Roll the stone away
It's Independence Day
Lyrics submitted by Manderzterz
Independence Day Lyrics as written by Gretchen Peters
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is about a family; an alcoholic, abusive father/husband, a proud woman who tries to stand by her husband, and a child who is abused. The townspeople look the other way and the abuse continues. The wife tries to stand by her husband, but when the father continues to be abusive, the wife burns down the house. The song never states it explicitely, but the abusive husband/father is killed. The wife/mother goes to jail and while the daughter is sent to the county home. Its Independence Day for the mother and daughter as they are now free from abuse.
@chungjik There is no specific mention of abuse of a child in the song, unless you're saying "I always seemed to get in the way" as clear and solid proof of abuse of the 8-year-old kid. And there's no specific mention of the woman "standing by" her husband, Unless you're saying, "Momma was proud and she stood her ground" as clear and solid proof of "standing by her husband". That's one aspect of things in the situation, but the main problems with "Independence Day include this: You must accept the argument that, at the very least, the song is iconoclasic. It attempts to usurp the title of "Independence Day" which has long been known as a reference to July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress (of the Colonies that had long been beholden to England) adopted the Declaration Of Independence. This song arguably attempts to usurp July 4th, 1776, even if it wasn't actually July 4th on the day the fire happened.<br /> <br /> And iconoclasm isn't the least of the problems of this song.<br /> Why is that, you ask?<br /> As I've already written, the song arguably advocates murder.<br /> There is no specific mention that the woman was in the exact situation of trying to defend herself from her abuser. We must ask: Why didn't the woman take her daughter and run away to another town and hide out? Ah, so you're complaining that "Everybody looked the other way". So what? Why couldn't the mother steal a moment from the husband and run away with her daughter? Why? The song never answers that.<br /> <br /> So, we have the lyrics. We have the celebratory music. And we have the celebratory video.<br /> <br /> And, even before the video begins, we have a girl and a woman reciting "Amazing Grace". Amazing grace? So are you telling me that if anyone says, "God, please forgive me, but I'm about to...." and then what comes next in the sentence? Something horrible and very deadly?<br /> <br /> Come to think of it, I actually read a review where the poster/commenter claimed that the song was, or is, Scriptural in many different senses. Really? Seriously? What does Scripture really say?<br /> <br /> OK, let's look at the Ten Commandments, which are first spoken of in Exodus, the 2nd book of the Bible, which was written by Moses and which was one of the first 5 books, known as the Pentateuch (from Greek) and also referred to by Jewish people as the Torah. What does it say in the Ten Commandments? It says, "Do not kill".<br /> <br /> Oops.<br /> <br /> Right there. The sixth Commandment of the Ten Commandments. The defenders of this song, what do they want to do? They arguably want to rip that Commandment out of the Bible, or they want to say that there are supposedly "exceptions to the Command", or they want to say, "It's all in the way you interpret the verse". Really? Seriously?<br /> <br /> What about if they argue, "We have to look at things in a utilitarian way." Really? So, does a utilitarian argument somehow trump other arguments?<br /> <br /> And guess what: One of the most famous Utilitarians who ever lived on planet Earth, is (was) named John Stuart Mill.<br /> <br /> And John Stuart Mill was an atheist.<br />
@chungjik The sheer use of the words "Independence Day" is arguably iconoclastic and arguably an attempt to usurp the actual day (date) of July 4th, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence from the mother country (England). When we refer to, and look back approvingly upon, the "Independence Day" of 1776, we realize that it has a special place in the history of the United States of America. It is enthroned in American History as one of the significant nomenclatures but now, with the song "Independence Day" which was written by Gretchen Peters and sung by Martina McBride (and also has been performed by Peters herself) is arguably a wicked usurpation of the title of "Independence Day".<br /> <br /> There is a lot we can say, and there are some things we don't know, about the song "Independence Day". For someone to try to dig up a load of Scriptural support for the song, that's really horrible. The woman killed her husband in the fire. The Bible says, "Do not kill". That is the very sixth Commandment, in the book of Exodus in the Bible. There is no evidence that the father killed anyone, but even Martina McBride seems to admit that the woman killed the husband in the fire. (Martina McBride has claimed that the woman doesn't die in the fire -- but she's not the one who wrote the song.)<br /> <br />