Singled Out: Run Katie Run's Don't Live Patiently

Keavin Wiggins | 05-01-2023

Album art

Run Katie Run just released their new album, Cowboy Boots with Fishnet Tights," and to celebrate we asked Kate Coleman to tell us about the song "Don't Live Patiently". Here is the story:

When I got an email about this Singled Out feature, I was very pleased but also puzzled about which song I wanted to talk about. I put a flag on the email and told myself, "I'll do this later," and proceeded to scroll through Hulu to find a movie to watch. I randomly selected a movie called "You're Not You." In this movie, Hilary Swank's character has ALS, and Emmy Rossum is hired to be her caretaker, and the two form an unbreakable bond. It's far more beautiful and complex than that, but I cried my eyes out and immediately knew which song I was meant to talk about: "Don't Live Patiently." It's a song I wrote inspired by a conversation I had with my father-in-law, Marty Perry, who passed away in October 2021 from ALS.

Marty was diagnosed with ALS in August of 2019. Corey, my husband, and I went to visit him and my mother-in-law in January 2020 because Marty had expressed interest in going out on the frozen lake one more time. He was especially interested in having me join him because I had never stood in the middle of a frozen lake before, and he was convinced that it's one of the most beautiful sights you'll ever experience. So up to Cranberry Lake, New York we went in the dead of winter, and you know what? He was 100% right; I've never seen so many stars in the sky.

During this visit, Marty asked if I would take him for a very short walk around the block; he had something he wanted to talk to me about.

He asked me what I was hoping to get out of my life and what I wanted from music? I remember telling him I would love to have success like Samantha Fish has; he loved blues music so I knew he'd recognize that name. I was hoping (and still am!) that I would be able to make a decent living doing what I love while playing songs I wrote. I'll never forget what he said next. He asked, "But what if that never happens?"

I stood there, confused, for no more than two seconds before he went on to tell me how he wanted me to consider having children and becoming a mother. He said, "I'm dying, so I figure I get to say what I'm thinking now. Ha ha ha." I went on to tell him how I honestly never thought too much about having kids, and how Corey and I aren't necessarily keeping our bank account very happy. He countered by expressing how much I light up when I'm with my nephew and niece, and that kids need one thing more than anything and you can't buy it with even the largest quantities of money: LOVE. He was also keen on mentioning how I have no short supply of it. He ended the conversation by sharing how he wished he could go back in time and give himself this advice, but that he got lucky, because he got us: Corey, his brothers, and their wives and kids.

I wrote the song the day he died. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I just sat with my guitar and this is what came out.

I'm very blessed because I have an enormous amount of people who love me and share their wisdom with me, but this is one conversation that made me feel incredibly loved, unconditionally, and I'm so glad I have a song to visit now when I'm missing Marty.

Marty, if that was you that put that movie in front of me, I hope I'm making you proud, and I love you.

~Your daughter, Kate

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here