“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry

The first time I heard the song, “If I Die Young” I was struck by the upbeat melody and the lilting vocals of lead singer Kimberly Perry. I was driving my car at the time, so I just caught a few of the lyrics. But I found what little I heard intriguing because it seemed as if Perry was cheerfully singing about her own death. “That can’t be,” I thought to myself. But I went home and listened to the song again and soon discovered that is exactly what the song is about.

Written by Kimberly Perry at her home in East Tennessee, “If I Die Young” became a smash hit soon after its release in October 2010, climbing to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart by December of that year. It was nominated for multiple awards, including a Grammy and two American Country Music Awards, and won Song of the Year at the CMA awards in 2011.

Upbeat Yet Heartbreaking

“If I Die Young” begins with the young Ms. Perry giving instructions about what to do with her body if she dies, the upbeat melody giving the lie to the sadness of the words:

If I die young bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song.

She then goes on to lament the grief her mother will feel upon learning of her death:

Lord make me a rainbow, I’ll shine down on my mother
She’ll know I’m safe with you when
She stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain’t always what you think it oughta be, no
Ain’t even grey, but she buries her baby
The sharp knife of a short life,
Well, I’ve had just enough time.

In some ways, “If I Die Young” seems a bit too upbeat for the subject matter. The melody is bright and cheerful and Perry’s vocals are enchanting — almost too full of buoyancy and joy to accompany such heartbreaking lyrics. When she sings about dying before ever knowing love, the image of a life too short is brought into sharp, sad focus.

Kimberly Perry
Credit: frostnow.com

And I’ll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom
I’m as green as the ring on my little cold finger, I’ve never known the lovin’ of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand.
There’s a boy here in town says he’ll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life.

A penny for my thoughts, oh no I’ll sell them for a dollar
They’re worth so much more after I’m a goner
And maybe then you’ll hear the words I been singin’
Funny when you’re dead how people start listenin’

Kimberly Perry Explains

In December 2015, The Band Perry gave an interview to The Boot during which they talked about “When I Die Young” and what it meant to them. Speaking for the trio, Kimberly said, “We wanted to write a song about making the most of whatever time you’re given — whether it’s two years, 20 years or 200 … For us, ‘If I Die Young’ is about if it all ends at this moment, look at what we’ve gotten to do. Whatever time we’re given will be absolutely enough, as long as we make the most of it.”

For those who have experienced “the sharp knife of a short life,” that statement may seem naive or disingenuous. As human beings, it’s our nature to rail against the deaths of young people. Children are not supposed to die before their parents. For that matter, children are not supposed to die at all. The death of a young person is incomprehensible to most of us, even those of us who have dealt with the deaths of children in our professional lives. It is always tragic, and it always leaves us with the feeling that fate has cheated us all.

Yet, there is part of me that knows that what the young Kimberly Perry was trying to convey when she wrote“If I Die Young” is truer than most of us would like to believe. A life is a life, whether it lasts 20 seconds or 100 years. No one is guaranteed any more time than anyone else, nor does the briefness of a life in any way diminish its value or its impact on those who were touched by it. We all do, in fact, get “just enough time.” The trick is to understand that and to meet every moment with gratitude and the knowledge that it really is all we have.

“If I Die Young” was an impressive accomplishment for The Band Perry, not only because of its commercial success but because it brought a sensitive subject to the public consciousness in a remarkable way. It would be a wonderful memorial song for a teenager or anyone of any age who lived in the moment and died holding on to the belief that they “had just enough time.”

Watch The Band Perry perform “If I Die Young” in the video below.