'INDEPENDENCE DAY', THE BOSS & POWER STATION IN NYC

Today, The Grandma has visited Power Station in New York City, and she has remembered, on a day like today, the song Independence Day written and interpreted by Bruce Springsteen, who recorded it at Power Station, on April 24-25, 1980.

Happy 4th of July, Independence Day!

Meanwhile, The Newtons have continued preparing their Cambridge Exam. They have studied the First Conditional.

More info: First Conditional

Power Station at BerkleeNYC, formerly known as Avatar Studios (1996-2017) and Power Station, is a recording studio at 441 West 53rd Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood in Manhattan, New York City. 

The building contains 5 studio spaces: A, B, C, G, and E, as well as a black box theater. The building was originally a Consolidated Edison power plant.

In 1977, it was rebuilt as a recording studio by producer Tony Bongiovi and his partner Bob Walters.

The complex was renamed Avatar Studios, under the Avatar Entertainment Corporation, in May 1996. 

In 2017, the studios were renamed back to Power Station, by special arrangement with Berklee NYC. The studio reopened in 2020 after a full renovation, while maintaining the studio spaces.

In 1995, Sonalysts, which had begun as an underwater acoustics research company, licensed the Power Station's design and naming rights from Bongiovi and Walters. The company built a perfect replica of the original Studio A in Waterford, Connecticut, as a part of the new Power Station New England.

More information: Power Station, NYC

Independence Day is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.

It was originally released on his fifth album, The River, in 1980. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York, on April 24-25, 1980.

In 2015, Springsteen stated that he regards Independence Day, Point Blank, Stolen Car and the title track as being the heart and soul of The River album.

Independence Day, along with the title track, Wreck on the Highway and Point Blank, is one of the verse-chorus songs on The River that was essentially a short story or character sketch. It is one of the darker hued songs on The River.

The lyrics are about a home that can no longer hold both father and son. The song is sung by the son to the father, opening with the line Papa go to bed now, it's getting late, reversing the usual command of a father to a son. The son recognizes that despite their similarities, the father and son would never agree but just continue to argue constantly, and so it was time for the son to leave home.

AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann said Independence Day is an unusually sad, beautiful and private song, with a slow piano and a languid saxophone solo, as well as delicate organ and acoustic guitar work. The song has been described as Springsteen's best recorded vocal, with an unerring sincerity which fuels the song.

Although released on The River in 1980, Independence Day was written in 1977 and was originally played in the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour.

Independence Day has been a reasonably popular concert song, with 199 performances through 2015. A concert version of Independence Day was released on the live album Live/1975-85.

Independence Day was released as the B-side on the single release of The River in several countries and as the B-side of Sherry Darling in others.

More information: Far Out

 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.

Bruce Springsteen

'SO SAY GOODBYE IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY... THIS TIME'

On a day like today in 1776, the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject and subordinate to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were then united, free, and independent states.

The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4.

Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

Independence Day or the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, on July 4, 1776.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches, and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

The Grandma wants to commemorate this day talking about Independence Day, a song written and performed by her favourite singer, 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

Independence Day is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. It was originally released on his fifth album, The River, in 1980. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York, on April 24-25, 1980.

In 2015, Springsteen stated that he regards Independence Day, Point Blank, Stolen Car and the title track as being the heart and soul of The River album. 

Independence Day, along with the title track, Wreck on the Highway and Point Blank, is one of the verse-chorus songs on The River that was essentially a short story or character sketch.

It is one of the darker hued songs on The River. The lyrics are about a home that can no longer hold both father and son. The song is sung by the son to the father, opening with the line Papa go to bed now, it's getting late, reversing the usual command of a father to a son. The son recognizes that despite their similarities, the father and son would never agree but just continue to argue constantly, and so it was time for the son to leave home.

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

Well 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

Allmusic critic William Ruhlmann said Independence Day is an unusually sad, beautiful and private song, with a slow piano and a languid saxophone solo, as well as delicate organ and acoustic guitar work.

The song has been described as Springsteen's best recorded vocal, with an unerring sincerity which fuels the song.

Although released on The River in 1980, Independence Day was written in 1977 and was originally played in the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour.

Independence Day has been a reasonably popular concert song, with 199 performances through 2015. A concert version of Independence Day was released on the live album Live/1975–85.

Independence Day was released as the B-side on the single release of The River in several countries, and as the B-side of Sherry Darling in others.

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

More information: Bruce Springsteen

 

A good song takes on more meaning 

as the years pass by.

Bruce Springsteen

JULY 4, 1776: THE UNITED STATES INDEPENDENCE

The US Declaration of Independence

Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July or July Fourth, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

More information: History.com

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. 

After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. 

Signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776

Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

More information: The Declaration of Independence

Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. 

Thomas Jefferson