"If I Die Young" is a mid-tempo tune accompanied by acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion, mandolin, fiddle, electric bass, and drums.

She recognizes that once someone passes away, others seem to pay more attention to that person's life: "And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin' / Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'."

She states that if she dies young, then her family left behind should "save their tears" for a time when "they're really gonna need them."

With the remix impacting pop radio, the song re-entered the Hot 100 chart at number 46 for the week of June 25, 2011.

It broke the slowest climb record that was previously held by Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats", and Taylor Swift's "Teardrops on My Guitar".

Kimberly's mother and her love interest (played by Kyle Kupecky) are shown plucking flower petals and visibly depressed that she has left them.

In 2013, Naya Rivera performed the song as her character Santana Lopez in tribute episode "The Quarterback", during the fifth season of the Fox comedy-drama series Glee, in honor of co-star and close friend Cory Monteith, who died on July 13, 2013.

Speaking about the usage before the episode was broadcast, Kimberly Perry said: "I'm so excited that song is being used that way because even though it has 'die' in the title, it was really inspired by and about celebrating life [...] I obviously haven't seen the episode that's a tribute to Cory, but I feel like they're going to focus on his life rather than his death, so I'm really excited that 'If I Die Young' is going to be part of honoring him".

[46] Jeff Jensen for Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the episode focused on life, not death, and described Rivera's performance of the song as "the number of the night" and that it "was memorable for how she broke down halfway through it, then unleashed a furious howl".

[50] Following Rivera's disappearance and death in July 2020, which was confirmed on July 13, 2020, the 7-year anniversary of Monteith's death, the song saw a surge of views on YouTube[51] and became a trending topic on Twitter; some fans thought this was an insensitive reaction however, and that other songs performed by Rivera would be better to promote.

[52] In February 2012, American pop-country singer Cady Groves uploaded a live cover of the song to SoundCloud.

[56] Following the band's hiatus announcement, Kimberly recorded and released a follow-up titled "If I Die Young Pt.