[as performed on American Idol]      Well, she seemed alright 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 a 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 came    They just put out the flames and took down some names    And sent 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 the day of a 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