Listen to songs by Martina McBride, Destiny's Child, Kelly Clarkson and more.
By Caryn Ganz
Dear listeners,
Hello again from your guest playlister -- Lindsay's editor, Caryn -- in this lead-up to the Fourth of July. Last year, Lindsay brought you a 16-song soundtrack for your holiday barbecues. I am not going to top that, so instead (inspired by my fave, Kelly Clarkson), I did a brief dive into songs that use independence as a thematic trope.
While pop has turned to the independent woman many times, Independence Day has been a time for reflection on a variety of emotional topics: a painful breakup (Palehound), an escape from an abusive relationship (Martina McBride), a glimmer of hopefulness cracking through the melancholy (Elliott Smith). Bruce Springsteen's song is a tad too dark even for this list, sorry, Jersey friends!
All of these songs are sharply written, passionately sung and provide some form of release. And taken together, they make a pretty cohesive playlist. (If you did not yet know, I'm fanatical about sequencing.)
Throw your hands up at me,
Caryn
Listen along while you read.1. Kelly Clarkson: "Miss Independent"
Kelly Clarkson's debut album, "Thankful" from 2003, featured this killer lead single: a genuine jam (with some genuinely dated production) about a strong woman who finds there's also strength in letting love into her life. If it sounds a bit like a finger-wagging Christina Aguilera song, there's good reason for that: She's a writer on the track (along with Clarkson, Rhett Lawrence and Matt Morris), which was at one point destined for her own "Stripped."
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube