Country At It's Finest

“So one more question before I let you go…” the morning television host queried. “Your hat – just what does it mean to you?  I mean you always wear it, right?”

“Well I don’t always wear it,” he responded. “I wear it when I’m working.”

I smiled. He was wearing his trademark black straw hat, for this interview. I hadn’t thought about that before, but to a country singing superstar, yeah, I guess a television interview would be considered work - just part of the job.

“What does it mean to you,” she had asked him. I thought it a bit of a lame question when I first heard it. But his answer wiped my negative thought away.

Super Man's Cape

“I don’t know…It’s kinda like Superman’s cape,” he smiled with a sincerity that was revealed in his eyes.

That made me smile, too. I got it and it made me proud of him. He was just an ordinary guy, until it was time to perform. I wasn’t seeing any arrogance.  I wasn’t seeing any puffed-up pride. As he answered the questions posed to him, I was simply seeing a kind, thoughtful man; proud of his wife and kids, and protective of both. I was seeing a man, who because of his talent, has a name that just happens to be a household word whether “said” household likes country music or not.  I mean, everyone has heard of Tim McGraw, right?

I can’t help it – I just like “country”. I like the down-to-earth, laid back style. I like the love of God and country that always seems to be a priority with most country music artists. Usually in these country songs, there is poetry in the lyrics; which if one isn’t a fan of country, one wouldn’t really realize or understand.  It’s not just about drinking and divorce and cheatin’ that its longtime reputation says it is.  Yeah, yeah, I know; that reputation is somewhat deserved.  But when one really listens, more often than not, one will find beautiful, heartfelt poetry that is often about real life - songs filled with love of family, nation and God. And I happen to believe we find those topics in country music more often than any other music genre. Besides the fact that I was raised on country music, "real life" lyrics is what the appeal is for me more than anything else, I think. I love the mandolins and steel guitars. I love the country twang. No doubt, I love the cowboy hats and boots, but what I love the most is songs delivered from the heart.

“What’s your favorite ‘Tim McGraw’ song?” the host asked him towards the end of the interview.

“Live Like You Were Dying,” he answered without as much as a pause to think about it. “It was as they say, ‘like God had walked through the room’, when we first heard that song.”


Clark Kent - An Ordinary Guy

“Mine too!” the host excitedly proclaimed. “That’s the one I was going to say, too!”

No doubt, Live Like You Were Dying is probably Tim’s trademark song. And it does have awesome words. But so do a lot of his songs. He often sings about family and Jesus and war heroes. In each of the songs that he sings, I think we see a bit of the man.

The television host later stated her favorite line from their mutual favorite song is:  

 

“And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,

And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

Now, those are words to live by; that’s for sure!  We should all aspire to be more like that in our lives. And behind the black hat – Superman’s cape – I believe we see a man, that probably actually lives out those words.

Oh, but my favorite line from that song? 

“I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.”  

Now, that’s country at its finest!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Live Like You Were Dying

James Timothy Nichols and Craig Michael Wiseman

 

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
Looking at the x-rays
Talkin' 'bout the options
And talkin' 'bout sweet time"
I asked him
"When it sank in
That this might really be the real end
How's it hit you
When you get that kind of news?
Man, what'd you do?"

He said
"I went skydiving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"
And he said
"Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying"

He said
"I was finally the husband
That most of the time I wasn't
And I became a friend a friend would like to have
And all of a sudden going fishin'
Wasn't such an imposition
And I went three times that year I lost my dad
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

I went skydiving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fu man chu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"
And he said
"Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying
Like tomorrow was a gift
And you've got eternity
To think about
What you'd do with it
What could you do with it
What did I do with it?
What would I do with it?

Skydiving
I went Rocky mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I watched an eagle as it was flying"
And he said
"Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying"