Analysis: Live Like You Were Dying

Song: Live Like You Were Dying

Thesis:
The effect this song will have on an audience is to make us realize how short life is and that we need to take advantage of the many wonderful things we have while on earth.

Mount Rhetoric:
1. Just in the title of this song, we can already see the first tool used by songwriter: a simile. The appeal with this simile is that it is thought provoking and really makes you wonder, “Huh, what would I do if I knew I was dying in a week?” This can really change our perspective about life and it can make us realize that life is too short to stay angry at someone or to rarely tell your family that you love them. These lyrics will probably appeal to the audience’s pathos the most because it makes you reflect on your life and all of the things you have missed out on.
2. Another tool used by the songwriter that can also be found in title is irony. You don’t usually see the words “live” and “dying” in the same sentence, especially when they are complimenting each other to form a positive connotation. This will cause the audience to ponder on what it really means to “live like you were dying”. To me, it implies taking advantage of all of the wonderful opportunities we have here on earth and really taking note of all of the little things in life. This probably appeals to logos because it is more of a “thinking” question.

Thesis Connection:
I think it is somewhat obvious how these two tools connect to the thesis. Both are thought provoking situations that make us wonder what we are really doing with our lives. Are doing the things that matter or just the things we think are “fun” or “important”?

Lyrics:

He said I was in my early forties
with a lot of life before me
when a moment came that stopped me on a dime
and I spent most of the next days
looking at the x-rays
Talking bout the options
and talking 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 kinda news
man what’d you do

and he said
I went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
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 the time I wasn’t
and I became a friend a friend would like to have
and all the sudden going fishin’
wasn’t such an imposition
and I went three times that year I lost my dad
well 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 sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
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 got eternity to think about
What’d you do with it what did you do with it
what did I do with it
what would I do with it?

Sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and then 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
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying