(Gretchen Peters)
©1992 Sony/ATV Tunes and Purple Crayon Music (ASCAP). All rights admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Producer: Green Daniel
Original demo tracks recorded by: Mike Psanos at Tree Studios, Nashville, TN, 1992
Additional recording and mix by: Bart Pursley at Tree Studios, Nashville, TN, 2001
Mastering: Ken Love at Mastermix, Nashville, TN
Musicians: Gretchen Peters (vocals, acoustic guitar), Chris Leuzinger (acoustic & electric guitar), Bruce Bouton (lap steel), Barry Walsh (piano, Hammond B-3), Green Daniel (additional keyboards), Dave Pomeroy (bass), Tommy Wells (drums), Gretchen Peters, John Wesley Ryles (backup vocals)
*From the Valley Entertainment CD “The Secret Of Life” (VE15143)
(P)&© 2001 Purple Crayon Productions
I really don't have any idea why the idea for Independence Day came to me. Sometimes when you start writing a song it starts talking back to you - telling you what it wants to be about. That was the case with this song. I centered it on the little girl who is caught in the middle of her parents' drama. I think I chose the child's point of view because children are like little reporters - they tend to just tell the facts of the story.
I struggled with the ending for months. I was determined, at first, not to end it with the mother burning down the house. I was looking for some other way out, some less violent resolution. Months after I had finished the song, I was struck by the irony of that. The woman in the song had certainly looked for other ways out, too - but she kept coming back to the same conclusion. Ultimately, the ending felt true to me, so I left it the way it was, with some trepidation.
I never thought Independence Day would get recorded. I thought it was too dark, too bleak and too violent to be recorded by any artist in Nashville, and I didn't expect to do anything with it except play it live now and then. But I did record a demo of the song, because it seemed worthy of that, and the very first artist to hear it was Martina. She was completely passionate about doing the song, and at that time she was still an unknown artist - she'd had one record out before but hadn't had a hit yet. It was quite brave of her.
Country Music Association Song of the Year (1995)
Grammy Awards Song of the Year Nomination (1995)
Music Row Summit Song of the Year (1995)
NSAI Songwriters' Achievement Award (1995)
ASCAP Country Awards (1995)
Country Weekly All Time Top 100 Country Songs (1995)
TNN/Music City News Country Songwriter Award (1995)