Story Behind The Song
This was inspired by my late uncle, Mike Bouman - a good man and a legendary figure. He was a good talker and a good listener, which you usually don't find together, as well as being stroke-proof and flame-retardant. I more than once saw him reach into a fire to turn over meat. He was the sort of guy you'd call if you were in trouble, or if you weren't. It was easy to write a country song about him. It's not a biography, but I hope it gets the themes of his life and a few key details right enough.
Song Description
A man declares that he'll live his life fully to the end and will spend each last moment he's been given, despite the challenges he's faced along the way. Sort of a YOLO song for someone in the later stages of life -- equal parts joy, defiance, and gratitude with a blue-collar undercurrent. The chorus is universal enough, though, to fit any demographic in expressing defiance and a carpe diem attitude.
| Song Length |
3:50 |
Genre |
Country - Americana, Folk - Americana |
| Tempo |
Medium Slow (91 - 110) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Content, Exultant |
Subject |
Joy, Age, Aging |
| Similar Artists |
Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
A Winston and a cola
In the clear pink light of morning
That's lighting up the highway like a song
It's eighty miles till breakfast
Three-hundred till the exit
Where I turn my rig around and head for home
I got a boat on layaway
And I got a cough won't go away
But I got a few more years till I concede
That anything this world can hurl
Is anything that I can't turn
From a stone into an everlasting seed
Well if life's borrowed time
I'm spending mine
You won't get one last minute back from of me
I won't repay
A single day
I'll die with my last second in my hand
I'll die with my last second in my hand
I got a suitcase of Busch regular
And there's a walleye run not far from here
Then a BBQ at the VFW
My GP says to take it slower
But the deer don't rest and the lawn won't mow herself
So there's still some work to do
Well if life's borrowed time
I'm spending mine
You won't get one last minute back from of me
I won't repay
A single day
I'll die with my last second in my hand
I'll die with my last second in my hand
Now my pacemaker's got a pacemaker
And my sooner has become my later
Since the body never lines up with the will
But I got my kids and they got kids
And I'd miss my brothers and my friends
So I told my body you can go to hell
Well if life's borrowed time
I'm spending mine
You won't get one last minute back from of me
I won't repay
A single day
I'll die with my last second in my hand
I'll die with my last second in my hand