What happens to the mother at the end of “Independence Day”?
The mother could have died in the fire, accidentally or deliberately, or she could have been taken away by the authorities. The songwriter, Gretchen Peters, deliberately left that question unanswered. But the point of the song is to illustrate what can happen when a woman finds herself in a desperate situation as a result of domestic violence and feels she has to take desperate action. Martina wanted to record the song to warn women in abusive or violent relationships to get help or get out before they find themselves in a tragedy like the woman in the song. Martina says her interpretation is that the mother does NOT die and that she couldn’t have recorded the song if she felt that the mother dies.
