Live Like You Were Dyin'
Submitted by Rollie Hawk on Tue, 10/25/2005 - 15:42.
Growing up in southern Illinois, country music becomes something you get used to being background noise. I don't have any problem with country music, and in fact like a lot of it, but I still have that habit of tuning it out by default.
This is one of those songs that I've heard many times but never listened to until today. It's by Tim McGraw (who has quit a few great songs that even non-fans of country can enjoy) and has some excellent advice on how to face life.
If you've never had the experience of knowing someone who is facing something terminal or possibly terminal, you've probably never had the chance to learn the difference between living and being alive (and between dying and being dead, for that matter). For most people, it seems that they don't start living until some sort of drastic wake-up call. Those who don't need it spend many more happy years that the average person.
Live Like You Were Dyin'
He said I was in my early forties,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days, lookin' at the x-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time.
Asked him when it sank in, and this might really be the real end.
How's it hit ya, when you get that kind of news.
Man what ya do.
And he says,
[Chorus]
I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fu Manchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I've been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
He said I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn't.
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all the sudden goin' fishing,
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do
If I could do it all again.
And then.
[Chorus]
Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity
To think about what you do with it,
What could you do with it, what can
I do with with it, what would I do with it.
[Chorus]
I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fu Manchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
The idea of this song is summed up by one of Les Brown's most famous quotes -- "Most people die when they are 25. They just don't get buried until 40 years later."
This is one of those songs that I've heard many times but never listened to until today. It's by Tim McGraw (who has quit a few great songs that even non-fans of country can enjoy) and has some excellent advice on how to face life.
If you've never had the experience of knowing someone who is facing something terminal or possibly terminal, you've probably never had the chance to learn the difference between living and being alive (and between dying and being dead, for that matter). For most people, it seems that they don't start living until some sort of drastic wake-up call. Those who don't need it spend many more happy years that the average person.
Live Like You Were Dyin'
He said I was in my early forties,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days, lookin' at the x-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time.
Asked him when it sank in, and this might really be the real end.
How's it hit ya, when you get that kind of news.
Man what ya do.
And he says,
[Chorus]
I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fu Manchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I've been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
He said I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn't.
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all the sudden goin' fishing,
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do
If I could do it all again.
And then.
[Chorus]
Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity
To think about what you do with it,
What could you do with it, what can
I do with with it, what would I do with it.
[Chorus]
I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fu Manchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
The idea of this song is summed up by one of Les Brown's most famous quotes -- "Most people die when they are 25. They just don't get buried until 40 years later."