"Live Like We're Dying" is a song written by Danny O'Donoghue, Andrew Frampton, Mark Sheehan and Steve Kipner.

[1][2][3] In an interview with MTV News, Allen stated that the song had been earmarked as his album's potential single since he won American Idol back in May 2009.

"[4] When an interview for his cover story shared with, Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert, Allen explained, "It's a song that has a really good message-that we only have so much time, let's make the most of it.

I remember getting a text from Keith Urban saying 'I’m not gonna lie: The first time I heard that song I wasn’t crazy about it.

[8] The song contains inspirational lyrics, as Allen gives a "muscular" and "engaged" vocal performance, and delivers the lines in a rhythmic fashion.

"[12] James Montgomery of MTV News said that the song seemed "tailor-made" for him, playing on the strengths that led him to win American Idol.

Montgomery also said, "his husky, broad voice, shuffly guitar playing and genuinely sweet disposition – and wraps them in a well-worn, subtly sexy tune, full of wide-eyed, dare we say inspirational sentiments.

"[7] Misha Berson of the Seattle Times described the song as "surprising, and maybe a little jarring at first, if you expected a ballad or a mellow groove with a spare arrangement, like some of Allen's best performances on American Idol that paved the way to his Season 8 win".

In spite of Berson's initial surprise at the song's sound, she went on to praise the single as "very catchy, a bit inspirational", and "energetic".

"[5] The video begins with Allen pulling up to a junkyard in a white pickup truck at night, with a watch hanging from his key chain.

[20] Then, Allen takes a power cord out of the back of the truck and carries it through the junkyard until he plugs it in and flips a switch to turn on a large countdown clock.

Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly said that the video was "a luxe-looking, moodily lit affair that finds the season 8 champ clad in a physique-appropriate black henley and stalking his way through an abandoned construction site featuring a giant countdown clock, a dramatic sunrise, and copious amounts of recycled plastic sheeting."

Slezak also said that, "the folks at 19 gave Kris the proper budget to kick off his video career – at least we finally know what the company did with the savings gleaned from hiring student filmmakers to helm Blake Lewis and Diana DeGarmo’s tragic first clips".

[7] Montgomery also compared the video's "artfully color-saturated frames and great expanses" to Snow Patrol's "Run" clip and the Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland's "4 Minutes", doing away with the "narrative crutch most Idol champs' debuts lean on (see, for example, David Cook's 'Light On'), putting the focus squarely on Allen himself.

[21] In addition he also performed the song on Live with Regis and Kelly, and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to promote his album.