Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! Tim McGraw has had so many great songs, and it’s hard for me to even pick a favorite from his collection, but there is one song of his that has always bothered me because there is no definite ending to it.

In 1994, Tim released his hit “Don’t Take The Girl.” This song tells the story of Johnny, who meets a girl while fishing when he was eight years old. He begs his dad not to let her come along because, like any little boy, he doesn’t like girls. His dad has her come along anyhow and years later Johnny falls in love with her. 

By the final verse, they have a baby, but the doctor tells Johnny that there were complications during the birth and his wife is most likely not going to make it. Johnny then gets down on his knees and prays this prayer, “Take the very breath you gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I’ll gladly take her place if you’ll let me. Make this my last request. Take me out of this world. God, please, don’t take the girl.”

So, the question is: Does God answer the prayer? We don’t know for sure because the song ends by repeating the very first line, which says, “Johnny’s daddy was taking him fishing when he was eight years old.” I’ve heard people say this is now referring to Johnny and his son, Johnny Jr., going fishing together, but Johnny’s wife is never mentioned at the very end of the song, so we don't know if she survives.

After thinking about this, I have my own interpretation of what might happen. After Johnny prays his prayer, God sees his faith and his love for his wife. So he heals her, and she gets to raise the baby with Johnny, and they become a family.

Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer to this, but after all these years I thought there should be some kind of answer to this mystery.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back soon!