| "If I Die Young" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single bythe Band Perry | ||||
| from the albumThe Band Perry | ||||
| Released | June 8, 2010 (2010-06-08) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Republic Nashville | |||
| Songwriter | Kimberly Perry | |||
| Producers | ||||
| The Band Perry singles chronology | ||||
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| Alternate cover | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "If I Die Young" onYouTube | ||||
"If I Die Young" is a song written byKimberly Perry and recorded by Americancountry music trioThe Band Perry. It was released on June 8, 2010, as the second single from the group'sself-titled debut album.
"If I Die Young" is a mid-tempo tune accompanied by acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin, fiddle, electric bass, and drums. It is in the key of E Major. The song is about the sadness of dying young ("The sharp knife of a short life") as the narrator describes how she never really got to experience love and worrying about how her loved ones will miss her and deal with the death. She recognizes that once someone dies, others seem to pay more attention to that person's life: "And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin' / Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'." She states that if she dies young, then her family left behind should "save their tears" for a time when "they're really gonna need them." She states that she has had a well-lived life in the line "Well, I've had just enough time."
The Band Perry received at least one letter in response to the song. In its envelope, the members also found a necklace with a ring on it.[1] The letter's author was a young girl who had recently lost her best friend to cancer. Mourning her friend's death, the girl was contemplating suicide. Driving from work one day, she heard "If I Die Young" on the radio. Hearing "so much life in the song", the girl changed her mind. In her letter to The Band Perry, she wrote about the necklace: "I'm sending this to you, because it's the most important thing I own. This song literally saved my life."[2]
Bobby Peacock ofRoughstock spoke positively of the lyrics, saying that they were "very well-developed with interesting little details." He felt that, although the topic is "a little sugarcoated", the vocal performance is a "pleasant listening experience".[3]
In 2024,Rolling Stone ranked the song at #162 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[4]
"If I Die Young" debuted at number 57 on the U.S.BillboardHot Country Songs chart for the week of May 29, 2010. It also debuted at number 92 on theBillboardHot 100 chart for the week of July 24, 2010. In October 2010, it became the group's first top 10 single on the Hot Country Songs chart as well as their first top 20 on the Hot 100 chart. The song became their first number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of December 11, 2010.
In early 2011, the song wasremixed byMatt Ward and Dean Gillard forpop radio. The remix debuted at number 36 on the U.S.BillboardPop Songs chart and number 29 on the U.S.BillboardAdult Contemporary chart for the week of June 11, 2011. With the remix impacting pop radio, the song re-entered the Hot 100 chart at number 46 for the week of June 25, 2011.[5] It has since reached a new peak of number 14.[6]
In May 2011, the song sold over 2 million copies, the eleventh country music song to do so, and only the fourth time that a band reached this plateau, followingLady A,Zac Brown Band andRascal Flatts.[7] At the time, "If I Die Young" song was the highest-selling single to miss the top ten,[8] and as of August 24, 2015, "If I Die Young" surpassed 5 million downloads.[9]
In July 2011, the song reached the top 15 of theBillboard Hot 100 chart in its thirty-fifth chart week, making it the slowest climb into the top 15. It broke the slowest climb record that was previously held byCarrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats", andTaylor Swift's "Teardrops on My Guitar". Both songs took thirty-three weeks to reach the top 15.[10] The song spent 53 weeks onBillboard Hot 100 chart and is their best-selling single to date. It is also the only song with 53 or more weeks that ended its chart run in 2011.
The music video, which was directed by David McClister, premiered onCMT on May 27, 2010.[11] In the video, the band is shown setting Kimberly Perry in a canoe before pushing it off into the river. Perry is holding a book containing poems byTennyson, including "The Lady of Shalott", which the book is opened to at the end of the music video. The video echoes a scene inAnne of Green Gables in which Anne attempts to appear as the Lady of the poem. Kimberly's mother and her love interest (played by Kyle Kupecky) are shown plucking flower petals and visibly depressed that she has left them. Eventually, her canoe begins to take on water, she sits up. Once this occurs her brothers come back for her. When she gets back to her house, her mother and love interest embrace her. The video was filmed on location at Two Rivers Mansion outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Throughout the video, the band is also shown performing with their instruments inside of the house.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[34] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
| Canada (Music Canada)[35] | Platinum | 80,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[36] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[37] | Diamond | 10,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 53rd Grammy Awards | Best Country Song — "If I Die Young"[38] | Nominated |
| Academy of Country Music Awards | Single Record of the Year — "If I Die Young"[39] | Nominated | |
| Song of the Year — "If I Die Young"[39] | Nominated | ||
| 2011Billboard Music Awards | Top Country Song — "If I Die Young"[40] | Nominated | |
| CMT Music Awards | Video of the Year — "If I Die Young"[41] | Nominated | |
| Group Video of the Year — "If I Die Young"[41] | Nominated | ||
| USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year — "If I Die Young"[41] | Won | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Music: Country Single — "If I Die Young"[42] | Nominated | |
| Inspirational Country Music Awards | Inspirational Video — "If I Die Young"[43] | Nominated | |
| Country Music Association Awards | Single of the Year — "If I Die Young"[44] | Won | |
| Song of the Year — "If I Die Young"[44] | Won | ||
| Music Video of the Year — "If I Die Young"[44] | Nominated |
| Date | Country | Format |
|---|---|---|
| June 8, 2010 | United States | Country radio |
| May 24, 2011 | Mainstream radio | |
| February 24, 2012 | United Kingdom | Digital download |
In 2013,Naya Rivera performed the song as her characterSantana Lopez in tribute episode "The Quarterback", during the fifth season of theFox comedy-drama seriesGlee, in honor of co-star and close friendCory Monteith, who died on July 13, 2013. Monteith playedFinn Hudson on the show, with his character also dying.[45]
In a scene in the episode, Santana talks about Finn before beginning an acoustic cover of the song, but she breaks down in tears of sadness and grief over Finn before she can finish and runs away when friends try to console her. Speaking about the usage before the episode was broadcast, Kimberly Perry said: "I'm so excited that song is being used that way because even though it has 'die' in the title, it was really inspired by and about celebrating life [...] I obviously haven't seen the episode that's a tribute to Cory, but I feel like they're going to focus on his life rather than his death, so I'm really excited that 'If I Die Young' is going to be part of honoring him".[46] Jeff Jensen forEntertainment Weekly confirmed that the episode focused on life, not death, and described Rivera's performance of the song as "the number of the night" and that it "was memorable for how she broke down halfway through it, then unleashed a furious howl".[47]
The cover was released as a single as well as being a track on the albumGlee: The Quarterback. The album debuted at number 7 on theBillboard 200, selling 47,000 copies[48] and also charted as number one on theBillboard Soundtracks.[49] The song was the lastGlee single to chart during the show's run, doing so in the UK and Ireland.[50]
FollowingRivera's death, which was confirmed on July 13, 2020, the seven-year anniversary of Monteith's death, the song saw a surge of views onYouTube[51] and became a trending topic onTwitter. SomeGlee fans thought this was an insensitive reaction, however, and that other songs performed by Rivera would be better to promote.[52]
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[53] | 82 |
| Irish Singles Chart[50] | 56 |
| Scottish Singles and Albums Charts[54] | 73 |
In February 2012, American pop-country singerCady Groves uploaded a live cover of the song toSoundCloud.[55] Prophetically, Groves would die in 2020 at the age of 30 from complications caused byalcohol abuse.[56]
Following the band's hiatus announcement, Kimberly recorded and released a follow-up titled "If I Die Young Pt. 2" as her solo debut single in May 2023.[57]
