My Ten Favorite Murder Ballads: Independence Day (#4)

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I hope everyone in the US has enjoyed their Labor Day weekend, the unofficial "end of summer." It's also the unofficial "start of Christmas decoration season" at the stores. Thanks to Halloween it's not as crazy as it used to be, but you can count on seeing some Santas and Rudolphs in the store this week. But before that, here's another one of those slash 'em up murder songs from my list of ten favorites. #4: Independence Day - Martina McBride An unusual song on the list, this is the only one where most people would say "justifiable." And, although I really don't consider this country in the traditional sense of the word (play this after a Kitty Wells song and you'll understand what I mean), this is far and away one of my favorite commercial or mainstream country songs since commercial country music stopped trying to be "country." Written by Gretchen Peters (who's no slouch as a singer herself), the song tells of an eight-year-old girl who goes to the small-town Fourth of July parade to get her mind off the fact that her mom is wearing a bruise inflicted by the alcoholic dad. And, as it's a small town, everybody knows everybody and everybody's business, but nobody seems all that interested in getting involved. While the little girl is gone her mom decides it's time for some fireworks -- literally. She burns the house to the ground, killing the abusive man. When the girl comes home she is taken "to the county home" while mom goes off to jail. Mom might be going to prison, but she won her independence. The song is peppered with patriotic references ("let freedom ring," "by dawn's early light"), creating a stunning metaphor for escaping a brutal relationship. The song won Martina McBride a lot of awards, as well as awards for Peters as the songwriter. Independence Day Written by Gretchen Peters Recorded by Martina McBride From The Way That I Am, 1994 A spine-chilling version from Farm Aid, shortly after 9/11: