The Heartbreaking Story Behind Tim McGraw’s Song “If You’re Reading This”
This Tim McGraw song is just so sad.
Country music is known for telling heartbreaking stories through song, and Tim McGraw's "If You're Reading This" is no exception. The 2007 hit is an epistolary song, a letter written by a soldier only to be read after his death in battle. Here's what the lyrics tell us.
Tim McGraw's "If You're Reading This" is tragic but not angry
The song takes the form of a note written by a soldier to comfort his loved ones in the event of his death, even specifying where he’d like to be buried. He includes messages for both his mother and his father, but the recipient of the letter is his wife or girlfriend, who is pregnant with his daughter. The soldier says he wishes he could be with his family but that he is “home” in heaven and doesn’t have any regrets about his sacrifice. He even tells the reader that it’s OK to fall in love again in the future.
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Tim McGraw wrote the song for the families of fallen soldiers
The crooner was inspired after reading a magazine article about the ripple effects of war casualties. He wrote the song with the Warren Brothers, Brad and Brett, just three weeks before debuting it at the Academy of Country Music Awards, a last-minute decision that resulted in radio stations giving the live version of the song plenty of airplay because there wasn't a studio recording to play. (A cleaned-up version of the live performance was later added to re-issues of McGraw's album Let It Go.)
McGraw sang the song surrounded by the loved ones of 32 deceased American soldiers and brought the audience to tears. He reportedly paid for all the family members of fallen soldiers to fly to Las Vegas for the event. Afterward, "This little 5-year-old girl tugged on my sleeve and said, 'You just sang a song about my dad, didn't you?'" McGraw later told a local news outlet, adding, "No matter what side of the politics you fall on, these are people going over there sacrificing their lives for what they're sent to do."
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Was Tim McGraw in the military?
Though some outlets have erroneously reported that the singer served in the Air Force, McGraw's been a musician for his entire adult life and was never enlisted. However, he has partnered with charities that help veterans, and he created the Tug McGraw Foundation, which provides support to sufferers of brain-related trauma sustained in the military.
