Live Like You Were Dying

In this song, McGraw is in a conversation with a man who had a life-threatening illness. When McGraw asks him how he handled it, the man explains that it gave him a whole new outlook on life, and he started to live like he was dying, living life to the fullest. This means getting those bucket-list items crossed off right away (mountain climbing, bull riding), but also being more generous and forgiving. When McGraw heard the demo, it struck a chord with him because his father, former Major League baseball pitcher Tug McGraw, was dying from cancer.

Written by the veteran Nashville songwriters Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, "Live Like You Were Dying" really connected with listeners and got lots of airplay thanks to its soaring yet unconventional chorus ("a bull named Fu Man Chu!"). It was the longest-running Country #1 of 2004, remaining at the summit for seven weeks. It was also named as the #1 country song of 2004 by Billboard.

McGraw's father passed away just two weeks before he came to record the song at Allaire studios in upstate New York. He recalled the recording session to American Songwriter magazine: "We were in the studio around midnight. My uncle was there – my dad's older brother. The studio was all decked out. We sent an interior designer up to the studio, which was at the top of a mountain with three feet of snow around it. There was a big fireplace and candles. I had a glass vocal booth built in the middle of the center of the room where I could conduct everybody in the band." "Anyway it was midnight or 1 o'clock in the morning when we decided to cut this song. No lights were on. All the candles were going. My uncle was sitting there on the couch. That was an inspired track."