Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Well papa go to bed now, it's getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's Gate
We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow

'Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There's a darkness in this town that's got us too
But they can't touch me now and you can't touch me now
They ain't gonna do to me what I watched them do to you

So say goodbye, it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day all down the line
Just say goodbye, it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day this time

Now I don't know what it always was with us
We chose the words and yeah, we drew the lines
There was just no way this house could hold the two of us
I guess that we were just too much of the same kind

Well say goodbye, it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day, all boys must run away
So say goodbye, it's Independence Day
All men must make their way, come Independence Day

Now the rooms are all empty down at Frankie's joint
And the highway she's deserted clear down to Breaker's Point
There's a lot of people leaving town now, leaving their friends, their homes
At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone

Now papa go to bed now, it's getting late
Nothing we can say can change anything now
Because there's just different people coming down here now and they see things in different ways
And soon everything we've known will just be swept away

So say goodbye, it's Independence Day
Papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say
But won't you just say goodbye, it's Independence Day
I swear I never meant to take those things away

The Waterboys

Led by Mike Scott, the Waterboys formed in London in 1981. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Scott first became involved in music as the creator of the fanzine Jungleland and later played in a series of local punk bands. After studying English and philosophy in college, Scott moved with his band, Another Pretty Face, to London where, following the group’s breakup, he formed the Waterboys with multi-instrumentalist Anthony Thistlethwaite and Kevin Wilkinson, issuing their self-titled debut in 1983. Keyboardist Karl Wallinger and trumpeter Roddy Lorimer joined for their follow-up, A Pagan Place (1984).

After the release of their 3rd album, This Is the Sea, in 1985, Wallinger departed from the group. When the Waterboys returned in 1988 with the acclaimed Fisherman’s Blues, they were joined by fiddler Steve Wickham, keyboardist Guy Chambers, drummer Dave Ruffy and bassist Marco Weissman, a lineup that would take them to their next release, Room to Roam in 1990.

In 1991, Scott moved to New York without any of his bandmembers- reflected in 1993’s Dream Harder, a rock-oriented record that seemed to mark the end of the Waterboys’ career.