A song for Memorial Day
Today marks the beginning of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. I probably will post another piece on the topic before the holiday is out, but for now I’ll offer a repeat of a song video that I think especially touching and appropriate. It’s Tim McGraw’s extraordinarily moving “If You’re Reading This:”
If you’re readin’ this
My momma’s sittin’ there
Looks like I only got a one way ticket over here.
I sure wish I could give you one more kiss
War was just a game we played when we were kids
Well I’m layin’ down my gun
I’m hanging up my boots
I’m up here with God and we’re both watchin’ over youSo lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed that it would go.
If you’re readin’ this I’m already home.If you’re readin’ this
Half way around the world
I won’t be there to see the birth of our little girl
I hope she looks like you
I hope she fights like me
And stands up for the innocent and the weak
I’m layin’ down my gun,
I’m hanging up my boots
Tell dad I don’t regret that I followed in his shoesSo lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
is where my momma always prayed that it would go
If you’re readin’ this, I’m already hoooommmmmeeeeIf you’re readin’ this,
There’s gonna come a day
You move on and find someone else and that’s okay
Just remember this
I’m in a better place
Soldiers live in peace and angels sing amazing graceSo lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul is where my momma always prayed that it would go
If you’re readin’ this
If you’re readin’ this
I’m already home
My dad, God rest his soul, was a WWII veteran (82nd Airborne; he got to come home or I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this) who died suddenly of a heart attack on Memorial Day weekend when I was still a teenager. Dad was a lifelong Phillies fan who never got to see Tim McGraw’s father win Game 6 of the 1980 World Series to bring the Phillies their first “big one.” So this post is a trifecta for me. Many thanks.
(Yeah, and I bet Dad welcomed Tug McGraw to God’s version of Veterans Stadium with great joy.)
A lovely piece that will bring a tear to the eye of every patriotic American. It’s tragic, however, that a significant portion of our population would likely find any expression of patriotism, including this heartfelt song, to be laughable, fit for derision, and would see those touched by it as flyover country hicks clinging to God and guns and hating those who aren’t like them.
God grant that there will always be enough American men and women willing to write a blank check for any amount up to and including their lives to protect freedom so that those who imagine themselves to be superior beings can live in luxury unimaginable to most of the rest of the world, while sneering at and scorning those who love their nation, God, who hate no one, and who appreciate and maintain the tools necessary to fight against those who would destroy freedom.
On this Memorial Day, God bless all those who have served and who serve, and God bless America.
What a perfect, perfectly written, song.
If that song doesn’t make you want to hug a veteran and tell them how proud and grateful you are for his service, nothing will.
And wonderful comments by everyone who commented before me.
Awesome. Bookmarked. Thank you.
Fitting song for Memorial day.
Have a excellent Memorial Day holiday, but remember the reason: the veterans who made the sacrifice for us.
As Elmer Davis stated:
“This will remain the land of the free only as long as it is the home of the brave.”
These are the men and women who make all of our freedoms possible.
I resisted watching this until now.
Just reading the lyrics was hard enough.