What do you need to declare independence from?

Inspired by the recent upsurge in calls for the independence of my home province of Alberta, I found myself revisiting what I consider one of the greatest country songs ever written - definitely one of the best ever sung.

Although highly enjoyable to listen to casually, there is a lot of deep meaning in the lyrics, for those who care to follow the verses in particular. The verses describe a story of a young girl's mother holding fast in the face of domestic violence, while the chorus is more of a general, but passionate, clarion call for those listening to stand strong against the forces trodding down on them.

Being a sucker for short-haired women, I loved Martina's hair in this one &, funny though it may sound, I found her overbite endearing too. But more than anything else that makes this song is the absolute passion in her vocals. I think that her voice crack in the second chorus was inadvertent, but left in by the producers who heard to the raw authenticity in her voice, & knew that it was best to leave it as it was. I also absolutely love the way her face, her brow, plead with the audience's sympathy in the lyric "now I'm not saying that it's right or it's wrong".

I would give this video ten stars, but for two deductions. For the first, some of the B roll of the 4th of July parade was rather quick & non-specific. For the second, the entire video is shot in black-and-white, but it would have been a delightful surprise for the viewer if it transitioned to vibrant colour in the final chorus. It would certainly do justice for a song with this much vibrancy.

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Music video for Martina McBride's song, Independence Day.

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