McGraw wins Song of the Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - "Live Like You Were Dying," a song that became the biggest hit of Tim McGraw's career, won song of the year at the Country Music Association awards Tuesday night.\nWritten by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, the song spent much of last summer at No. 1. \nThe song, about living life to its fullest, was special for McGraw, who lost his father, former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Tug McGraw, to cancer in January.\nThe lyrics tell of a man in his early 40s who learned he doesn't have long to live and is asked how he handled the news. McGraw sings, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."\n"The day we wrote this song started like any other day," Nichols said. "Now it's been like no other day."\nIn announcing the award, Shania Twain said, "Country music always comes down to a really great song, a song that speaks to us -- all of us."\nThe song was chosen over Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman," Josh Turner's "Long Black Train," Alan Jackson's "Remember When" and the Brad Paisley-Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullaby."\n"Whiskey Lullaby," written by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, won for musical event of the year.\nIt's a dark tale about a woman who breaks a man's heart, watches him drink himself to death and then is so guilt-stricken that she too -- as the songs says -- "put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger."\n"I want to thank country radio for playing this," Paisley said. "It says a lot about the great people in our format who will take a chance on a double suicide in a drinking song."\nAlso during the show, Toby Keith and his daughter, Krystal, performed "Mockingbird" together, and Kix Brooks of the duo Brooks & Dunn paid tribute to the late Ray Charles.\n"He really was one soulful country singer. Bless you, Ray Charles," Brooks said.