The other day I heard an old country song on the radio, “Live Like You Were Dying,” by Tim McGraw. Like all good country songs, it’s designed to pull on your heartstrings with poignant themes such as your favorite dog up and died, your grandpa up and died, your Chevy pickup truck up and died, or your third wife up and died. (I’m not sure why in country culture cherished people and things are required to up and die, rather than just die, but apparently that’s an important distinction.)
Anyway, the Tim McGraw song tells the tale of a man in his early 40s who gets some bad medical news. “I spent most of the next days / Looking at the X-rays / And talkin’ ‘bout the options / And talkin’ ‘bout sweet time.”
When a friend asks the man what he did when it seemed like it might really be the end, the singer breaks into the powerful chorus: “I went skydiving / I went Rocky Mountain climbing / I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu / And I loved deeper / And I spoke sweeter / And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.”
Then he concludes by singing, “Someday I hope you get the chance / To live like you were dying.”
The second half of those lyrics are quite nice, but those first three items? Hmm, it seems to me he’s saying that when a man in the prime of life gets some really bad medical news, before beginning his treatment he should go out and break as many bones as possible. I bet when he showed up for his first chemo session the oncologists were not very thrilled to see him in a body cast.
When a friend asks the man what he did when it seemed like it might really be the end, the singer breaks into the powerful chorus: “I went skydiving / I went Rocky Mountain climbing / I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu / And I loved deeper / And I spoke sweeter / And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.”
Then he concludes by singing, “Someday I hope you get the chance / To live like you were dying.”
The second half of those lyrics are quite nice, but those first three items? Hmm, it seems to me he’s saying that when a man in the prime of life gets some really bad medical news, before beginning his treatment he should go out and break as many bones as possible. I bet when he showed up for his first chemo session the oncologists were not very thrilled to see him in a body cast.
It doesn't take a Mayo Clinic researcher to understand that skydiving, mountain climbing, and bull riding are statistically about 9,000 times more likely to cause fractures than, say, watching TV or mowing the lawn.
I’m not sure if the theme of the song is “Live like you were dying” or “Kill yourself before the cancer does.”
I have a better idea – although it doesn’t involve anyone or anything up and dying, so it doesn’t qualify for a country song. If I received some really bad medical news, this is how I’d describe my actions:
“I went beach walking / I went long lost buddy talking / I went 2.7 hours saying prayers in a church pew / And I laughed longer / And I hugged stronger / And I stopped taking and started giving / Someday I hope you get the chance / To die like you were living.”
Or something like that. The main thing is, I would do my best to show up for chemo sessions with the minimum number of plaster casts possible, preferably zero.
The Tim McGraw song was released in June, 2004. Tim’s father, famous baseball pitcher Tug McGraw, died of cancer in January of that year. Uh oh, now that you bring fathers and sons and baseball into the equation, it’s starting to have that country music effect on me: I’m getting teary-eyed now as I try to type. And trust me, my typing skills are so mediocre, the last thing I need is a blurry computer screen. (The only thing worse would be if my computer up and died.)
I’m not sure if the theme of the song is “Live like you were dying” or “Kill yourself before the cancer does.”
I have a better idea – although it doesn’t involve anyone or anything up and dying, so it doesn’t qualify for a country song. If I received some really bad medical news, this is how I’d describe my actions:
“I went beach walking / I went long lost buddy talking / I went 2.7 hours saying prayers in a church pew / And I laughed longer / And I hugged stronger / And I stopped taking and started giving / Someday I hope you get the chance / To die like you were living.”
Or something like that. The main thing is, I would do my best to show up for chemo sessions with the minimum number of plaster casts possible, preferably zero.
The Tim McGraw song was released in June, 2004. Tim’s father, famous baseball pitcher Tug McGraw, died of cancer in January of that year. Uh oh, now that you bring fathers and sons and baseball into the equation, it’s starting to have that country music effect on me: I’m getting teary-eyed now as I try to type. And trust me, my typing skills are so mediocre, the last thing I need is a blurry computer screen. (The only thing worse would be if my computer up and died.)
It’s been a little more than five years since my dad up and died, and I really miss him, especially during baseball season. There are so many things I wish I had said to him. If I dig out the “Field of Dreams” DVD right now, I’ll just melt into a big puddle on the floor.
So, take my advice: steer clear of country music, or else your composure will just up and die.
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