Don't Take the Girl

By: Tim McGraw

Olly's daddy was taking him fishin'
When he was eight years old
A little girl came through the front gate holdin' a fishing pole
His dad looked down and smiled, said we can't leave her behind
Son I know you don't want her to go but someday you'll change your mind
And Olly said "Take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson, take my best friend Bo
Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go
Take any boy in the world
Daddy please don't take the girl

"Daddy, does she have to come?" an eight year old Oliver said, looking down the driveway at the little girl from across the street who wanted to come fishing with him and his dad.

"Sorry Olly-Trolley, we can't just leave her here."

"Yes we can."

"Oliver Oken, you'll thank me for this someday", his dad said laughing.

The little girl slowly made her way up the driveway. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and according to Oliver, cooties.

"Hi, my name is Lilly."

"I'm Oliver."

"You're cute."

"You have cooties!"

Same old boy
Same sweet girl
Ten years down the road
He held her tight and kissed her lips
In front of the picture show
Stranger came and pulled a gun
Grabbed her by the arm said "If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm"
And Olly said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards
Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me
Here's the key to my car
Mister give it a whirl
But please don't take the girl

Oliver had taken Lilly to see Spiderman 9. It was the same as the last 8, but by now Tobey Maguire was getting old, so he wasn't as much Spiderman as Guy hanging from wires.

He had started to kiss her, but it started to turn into a make out session, so they turned down an alley next to the movie theater.

Suddenly, Lilly was pulled from him and there was a look of sheer terror on her face.

A man with a hoodie and a bandana covering his face was holding a knife to her throat.

"Empty your pockets boy! We don't anything to happen to little princess here, do we?!"

Before the masked man had even finished, Oliver had emptied his pockets. He threw his keys, his money, his Rolex, his credit card, and his ATM card.

"Here, anything, just let her go!"

The man looked up at him looked down at his stuff, let go of Lilly, picked up his stolen goods, and ran down the alley.

Oliver ran over to Lilly who had been thrown on to the ground. He put his arms around

"I almost lost you", he said and started crying with her.


Same old boy
Same sweet girl
Five years down the road
There's gonna be a little one and she says it's time to go
Doctor says the baby's fine but you'll have to leave
'Cause his momma's fading fast and Olly hit his knees and there he prayed
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

The most panicked time of his life had been when she held her enlarged stomach and says the words no man wants to hear:

"Oliver, it's time!"

Now they were in Lilly's hospital room and she was having trouble. He held on to her hand as the doctor told her to push.

Soon she let out one final gasp and their child's first cries echoed in the room.

"It's a boy!"

He smiled until he looked at Lilly to congratulate her. But her eyes weren't open. She was unconscious. Suddenly he heard over their son's screams, a loud beeping.

He looked at the monitor and all his saw was a flat line.

"Doctor!"

The doctor looked over at him then Lilly. He ran over to the side of the bed.

"You have to get out of here!"

"What? No! I'm not leaving her!"

"You have to go", said the nurse pushing him out of the room. As he left he saw the doctor pulling out the paddles.

"No!" he screamed. "Lilly!"

He fell to his knees and started crying. He was losing her. Oliver had never been religious, but at that moment he started praying, it was the only thing he could do.

"God, please don't take Lilly! Take me instead! I can't live without her! Please…"

The doctor came out of the room. He had a look of defeat on his face.

"No!"

"Your son is fine, but your wife…we did everything we could."

He just curled into a fetal position on the floor and started sobbing.

"I love you Lilly! No! Not Lilly! I can't be without you! Lilly!"

Olly's daddy
Was taking him fishin'
When he was eight years old