"Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" is the title of a song recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music singer Joe Diffie

Joe Diffie

Joe Logan Diffie is an American country music singer known for his ballads and novelty songs. Between 1990 and 2004, Diffie charted 35 cuts on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including five number one singles: his debut release "Home", "If the Devil Danced ", "Third Rock from the Sun",...

. The second single released from his CD, Honky Tonk Attitude

Honky Tonk Attitude

Honky Tonk Attitude is the third studio album by American country music artist Joe Diffie. Released in 1993, it features the singles "Honky Tonk Attitude", "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox ", "John Deere Green", and "In My Own Backyard", which respectively reached #5, #3, #5, and #19 on the Hot...

, it peaked at #3 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) chart.

Content

The song begins at a slow pace accompanied by piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, with the narrator explaining that he has no fear of dying, but that he wants to go on being himself after he has died. After the introduction, the tempo increases and the narrator elaborates on his initial point, by stating that he wishes to have his body placed against a jukebox

Jukebox

A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...

should he die, so that he will still be in a familiar atmosphere after death. The radio edit omits one repetition of the chorus.

Lawsuit

In 1999, the song was part of a lawsuit when another songwriter named Everett Ellis attempted to sue the writers of "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox", as he thought that the song infringed on a copyright to his own composition, "Lay Me Out by the Jukebox When I Die".

Music Video

The music video for the song begins with two men smuggling a fully dressed male corpse out of a funeral home. They proceed to take it out for a night on the town. The night of fun ends with the now-abandoned corpse (wearing sunglasses and a party hat) propped up next to the jukebox. Diffie (who plays the song at the bar) walks up to the corpse afterwards, thinking it's a living person, and tells him the since the bar is closing, he needs to leave...adding "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here". Diffie then claps the corpse on his shoulder and leaves. The corpse begins to sway and collapses next to the jukebox.

Chart positions

"Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of July 24, 1993.

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	3
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100	22
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2