"Live Like You Were Dying" tells the story of a man in his early forties who gets the news that his father has an unspecified, life-threatening illness. His father's message is to live life to the fullest and do things that he had always wanted to do, such as skydiving, mountain climbing, fishing, and bull riding. He also says that he became a better husband and friend. McGraw then switches perspective to himself, talking about how going fishing with his dad stopped being an imposition and how he finally, after reading the Bible, took a long hard look back over his life and took his father's advice by going skydiving, mountain climbing, horse, bull riding, and so much more. This song is often associated with McGraw's father, Tug McGraw, who was hospitalized with a brain tumor on March 12, 2003. It was revealed that he had cancer. He died on January 5, 2004.
Background
The song was written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman. The duo had a friend who received a medical misdiagnosis regarding a form of lung cancer. Wiseman and Nichols began discussing family members and friends who learned of illnesses, and how they often had a new perspective on life upon learning they had limited time. They decided to write a song based on the concept, hoping that it might inspire someone in such a situation. After they came up with the title, they began writing the first verse and chorus. They found themselves attached to the song, and continued to write in late into the night over the phone. "I remember going in my totally dark living room, laying on the floor, and we wrote the second verse on the phone," Wiseman recalled. The inclusion of the lyric about riding a bull was intended as a sort of "palette cleanse," as they felt the chorus was growing too sentimental. The duo judged its creation as a "really spiritual thing, because it came strong. Me and Tim's instincts and intuitions just kept leading us." The song was demoed within a few days of its writing by Wiseman, and was chosen by McGraw to be his next lead single. Wiseman remembered the song had personal significance for McGraw, who commented that he himself had gone fishing with his father prior to a quadruple bypass surgery.
Commercial performance
"Live Like You Were Dying" debuted at number 36 on the U.S. BillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks for the chart week of June 5, 2004. It reached No. 1 on the chart dated July 17, 2004. The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 1, 2009, and it has sold 2,313,000 copies in the US as of July 2016.
Music video
The music video features Tim McGraw singing in an infinity cove with video clips added by CGI. The alternate version of the video, directed by Sherman Halsey, McGraw's usual director of choice, ends with a clip of the late Tug McGraw pitching the final strike for the 1980 World ChampionPhiladelphia Phillies, which, at the time, was the team's only World Series Championship. The video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards.
