“If Tomorrow Never Comes” is a song recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. Written by Brooks and Kent Blazy, it was released in August 1989 as the second single from his album Garth Brooks and also appears on The Hits, The Limited Series and Double Live. This was his first number-one single on the US Billboard Country Singles chart. It is also sometimes referred to as his signature song. “If Tomorrow Never Comes” was named Favorite Country Single in the American Music Awards of 1991.
The song subsequently became one of Brooks’ most popular songs for other artists to perform. In 2002, Irish singer Ronan Keating released a version that reached number one in the United Kingdom and three other countries, and it became a top-five hit in several additional territories.
This is the first country love song released by Brooks. A man lies awake at night, thinking what would happen in his love’s mind if he were to die the next day. The first line in the chorus reads: “If tomorrow never comes, will she know how much I love her?” He goes on to compare this situation with his own lost loved ones, and how he made a promise to say each day how much she means to him. The song begins with a soft guitar solo and gradually builds up to a more orchestrated accompaniment. Brooks has written many love songs since. This song is about the love of a father to his daughter, not to his lover. Garth said that on stage at Belmont University to Britt Todd and in his music video he has his daughter playing next to him while he sings.
Lycris
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She’s lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she’s my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face this world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
‘Cause I’ve lost love ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there’s no second chance to tell her how I feel
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she’s my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face this world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
So tell that someone that you love
Just what you’re thinking of
If tomorrow never comes
