Analysis of The Band Perry's "If I Die Young"

The song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry has a countless number of literary elements throughout the lyrics of the song. In this song there is elements used such as theme which includes the author's purpose and audience, vivid imagery, and irony. All of these elements come together to create a song that draws a picture in your mind of what the writer was feeling or what the author wanted to get across.
Many songs written focus on the theme of love which is very relevant in this song. Most people would view that this song is written to express the pain of losing a loved one that died before they had time to experience life, but in my opinion there is a deeper meaning about how we should love and live life like everyday will be our last. For example the lines "Gather up your tears, keep em' in your pocket, Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them." in my opinion expresses how sadness shouldn't be wasted on being upset about little things but on major events such as a death. Also the lines "Who would have thought forever could be severed by the sharp knife of a short life" in my opinion expresses that love is cut short by an unexpected death. The overwhelming theme of love in this song is why I think love is the biggest theme.
Imagery is used in just about every line of this song. There are many good examples of imagery such as lines from the chorus. The lines "bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in a river at dawn" paints the image in my mind of even though a young life is ending, a new life begins because the rising of the sun at dawn represents new life as sinking in the river represents death. Also the line " the sharp knife of a short life" gives you the image of the pain that the people close to the person who died are going through. In my opinion the line expresses how nothing hurts more then losing somebody young. There are many images that could be brought up but I just touched on a few.
Although irony is not the most overwhelming literary element used in the song, it still gives you something to think about while listening. The biggest example of irony is the lines "a penny for my thoughts, I'll sell them for a dollar, they're worth so much more after I'm a goner." This line of lyrics has held true for many famous artists and musicians after their deaths. People like Michael Jackson and Picasso have been worth more dead then alive. Also the lines "and maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singin', Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'" in my opinion are very ironic because for some reason society decides to sometimes not listen to people when they're living but when the person unexpectedly dies, people are in mourning and feel as if they should listen to what the person had to say our of respect for the deceased. As awful that this is, we've seen it with such musicians as John Lennon and Michael Jackson.
This song is a very good song due to the fact that the overall message is to live life to the fullest because it can be cut short unexpectedly. Also it says life hurts no matter what, but when losing someone young or close, it cuts the deepest. All the elements used in this song is what makes it great and hopefully people take more away from the song then it's musical value.