From his website;
“When I Get to Heaven,” which brings a healthy dose of levity to what might have been a grave situation. Prine revealed in 2013 that an operable form of cancer had been found on his lung. Fortunately an operation proved successful. The diagnosis followed a 1998 surgery for neck cancer, which made him give up smoking for good.
“That was 20 years ago and I still miss cigarettes,” he admits. “If somebody lights up, I’ll go stand next to them after they’re up so I can get that initial blast. So I’d written this chorus about having my favorite cocktail and having a cigarette that’s nine miles long. I kept thinking, ‘Where the hell can I do that?’ The only place I can get away with that it is in Heaven because there’s no cancer there. So, the chorus dictated the setting of the song. I made up the verses around that.”
A very interesting theology. Sad he apparently was so deceived.