Gowns, tuxedos, the red carpet, and little golden men. Put them all together and what do you get? The 87th annual Academy Awards. This is the biggest night in Hollywood. You might be wondering “Yeah okay the Oscars are about movies…how does country music come into play?” Well, my friend, I have two words: Glen Campbell.
Campbell’s song “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” was nominated for Best Original Song. The song, written by Campbell as well as Julian Raymond, was featured at the end of his documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. They took home a Grammy for the song just a few weeks ago.
In 2011, the country-pop icon announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He is now 78 and suffering through the late stages of the disease. The song was written as a love letter to his family. It details how he won’t understand the pain they feel when his memory is lost to the disease. Raymond commented on the situation saying that Campbell unfortunately could not comprehend what the Oscar nomination meant because of this condition.
Due to his health circumstances, Campbell was unable to travel to the Academy Awards to perform his song. His family personally asked fellow country music artist Tim McGraw to perform the song in his place. McGraw and wife Faith Hill attended the awards last night, as well as Campbell’s wife and daughter.
Seated on a stool set on center stage, McGraw gave a performance that definitely tugged at some heartstrings. With nothing to distract from solely listening to the lyrics, Campbell’s song was absorbed by those who heard it. Anyone who has or knows someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia can feel the heartbreak of the song. It is the person(s) the song is directed towards rather than the person singing the lyrics who is the one suffering emotional pain.
His song did not take home the Oscar, but I know his family took home something from the performance. It was a very heartfelt tribute to a great artist. I listened to Campbell himself perform the song and it is hauntingly beautiful. McGraw executed the performance with grace.
The music video for his song shows clips of Campbell through the years. With and without the disease, his love for his family shows through. “You’re the last person I will love/You’re the last face I will recall/And best of all, I’m not gonna miss you.”
Tim McGraw’s performance at the Oscars was my second time I hearing this song. I originally didn’t know what the song was about, so I didn’t really know what to feel after listening to it. After learning that it was about Alzheimer’s disease and hearing Tim McGraw preform it at the Oscars definitely made me cry. I think Tim McGraw did a wonderful job and the fact that he was just sitting on a stool with a spotlight really help tug at those heartstrings like you said. I love that you included the video of Glen Campbell’s performance because I was beautiful tribute made me cry all over again.
This song is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Although not uplifting by any means, it truly is a wonderful song and allows for so many people going through a similar situation some solace in knowing that they are not alone. I also am very happy it was Tim McGraw who sang this. I was watching the E! pre-show red carpet and when McGraw and his wife were being interviewed I couldn’t help but chuckle about how normal of guy he seemed. He made a joke about how his wife gets nervous whenever he performs and said something about how he hoped it wasn’t George Clooney’s knee she grabbed unconsciously as he walked on stage. It made him seem all the more personable and when he did take the stage I couldn’t have been more captivated by this seemingly normal guy’s performance.