If I Die Young

A song that I have found particularly haunting and thought provoking is "If I Die Young", by The Band Perry.


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

Uh oh, uh oh

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 ought to be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I've had, just enough time

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

The sharp knife of a short life well
I've had just enough time

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 loving of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand
there's a boy here in town says that he'll love me forever
Whoever thought forever could be severed by

The sharp knife of a short life oh Well,
I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
what I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts,
Oh no,
I'll sell em' for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
and maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singing
funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

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

Uh oh (uh, oh)

The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

Press "Read more" to read my thoughts on the song (I didn't want to mess up the home page with a super lengthy post)


I'm not especially into music, but for some reason this song has been reverberating throughout my head lately. During the last few weeks I've probably had the music video on several hundred times while I attend to various tasks throughout the internet. Like the great majority of people, I haven't had much experience with death. It is merely a concept, not a reality. This song presents it in a way that seems to be filled with peace. Peace and death? Alien ideas, to be sure.

In the music video a theme commonly seen is Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shalott. Basically what the poem is about is how The Lady of Shalott is cursed to unceasingly weave a magic web, for if she looks into the world she will die. But one day she looks into a mirror and sees the land of Camelot, including Sir Lancelot, who happened to be passing by. She was struck by her curse, and in her dieing moments she laid herself on boat and drifted in a river. She died singing her last song. She was eventually found by the knights of Camelot, and Sir Lancelot remarked that she had a lovely face.

The first verse of the song describes the way that the young girl wished to be buried. Like the Lady of Shalott, she wished to be buried not in the ground, but in a river. The very first four words have the most meaning to me in this entire song. "If I die young". Do we even consider the possibility of dieing young? We've always been told that we have our entire life ahead of us, but do we? Though we understand that any day we could die, do we actually acknowledge it? I don't know about you, but I for one am lulled into a false sense of security. I'm living my life and doing my thing. But life has a way of being unpredictable. How do I not know that tomorrow I will find that one of my good friends might not have waken up from their sleep? Life would never be the same. Ever. And yet that sort of thing very well could happen. I for one am not afraid of my own death as much as I am about the death of others. How could I live with that, knowing that someone is gone? How could I deal with that? I don't know about you, but right now, I couldn't.

In the second verse the young girl wishes for her mother to understand that she is safe. And yet how many mothers would think like that immediately after having a child snatched away from them? As Theoden from the Lord of the Rings said, "No parent should have to bury their child". We can hardly imagine such a thing. To prepare for it would be impossible. Yet it happens. Both for unborn children who do not make it through birth, and teenagers who are only a few years from leaving to begin their own life.

The first two lines of the third verse are beautiful. No question about that. Of course I dislike the next few sentences *throw in obligatory puking for the "holding hands" and "loving forever" parts*, but the first two make up for them. To go into "His kingdom" (AKA "Heaven") dressed in white. Pure. Yet at the same time green. A newcomer to the world, a novice. A child. Those two colours are a beautiful combination. 

The song continues, it talks about how this particular girl had never been particularly listened to much. Only after death did people notice who she was and what she stood for. But by that time it was far too late. It was only in death that she was really appreciated. Only in death. Please note that I do not believe that death is an acceptable way to be listened to. It's not, and I grieve those that it is the only way. But it is interesting the way that turns out. We don't know what we have until it's gone.

The song completes itself with words about peace, love, and the dear wish that those who loved this girl before her death would not shed tears. Instead, they would "keep them in their pocket" for another time. She did not want here death to be sad, but to be with joy. She acknowledged that though she had been looking forward to see how her life might turn out, she was content with what she had been given. To cry for that would be to misunderstand the circumstances of her death. The final line "So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls" can be interpreted many different ways. She metaphorically wants to meet someone in formal attire, but what does this metaphor mean? I don't dare hazard a guess.

Besides the puke-inducing "love" section, I thoroughly enjoyed this song. Well, perhaps "enjoy" isn't the proper word. Perhaps a word expressing my being cursed by it? But in a good way. Now in my limited understanding, I cannot think of death as a good thing. To choose it as an "out" is wrong. However, to not fear death is another matter entirely. As Mr. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice would say, "I'm not dead yet!". We still have lives to live. Whether they be for another day, or another century, we have enough time.