The Fray: How to Save a Life Meaning
Song Released: 2006
How to Save a Life Lyrics
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear...
↓ See the rest of these lyrics ↓
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1TOP RATED
anonymous Nov 3rd 2006, 10:15 report
The title track, "how to save a life," was inspired by slade's experience as a mentor to a crack addicted teen. "I was a sheltered suburban kid when I met this guy. He was a recovering addict, coming out of a really tough teenage life. Thankfully, he was on his way out of that life, so he was able to really look back with some objectivity. The song is more of a memoir about his slow motion descent and all the relationships he lost along the way." destined to be one of the band's greatest hits, slade isn't worried about getting tired of performing the song: "it is the easiest one for me to sing every night. I constantly get emails from people who relate to it."
this is from their official website... -
2TOP RATED
anonymous Oct 27th 2006, 14:20 report
Http://www.Howtosavealife.Com/ this is their own account of what the song is really about. For those of you who don't feel like visiting the ling I'll copy/past the response here. =)
the song how to save a life was influenced by isaac slade's expereinece working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. "one of the kids I was paired with was a musician. Here I was, a protected suburbanite, and he was just 17 and had all these problems. And, no one could write a manual on how to save him. ... I got a lot of e-mail about it. One kid died in a car accident, and I guess it had been the last song he downloaded from his computer. Thy played it at his funeral, and some of his friends got 'save a life' tattooed on their arms. The response has been overwhelming."
and, here's the direct link to the interview. Http://www.Usatoday.Com/life/music/news/2006-07-12-otv-the-fray_x.Htm
have a great day! :) -
3TOP RATED
anonymous Oct 10th 2006, 00:39 report
It's about suicide. It's someone trying to help someone from hurting themselfves and thinking back on how they should have listened instead of thinking what to say or how they should have stayed up with the person all night. The song really means how to save a life.
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TheBurnoutKid May 2nd 2006, 22:19 report
This song is about the attempt to have an intervention with one of the lead singer's good friends who was addicted to illicit drugs.
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anonymous Jul 14th 2006, 12:42 report
This song, the way I saw it, was that the person singing knew someone who had some sort of problem, like drugs or something, and got hurt because of it, now he feels like he could have done something about it. I may be wrong, I may be right.
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anonymous Aug 7th 2006, 00:25 report
Its about someone who lost a friend to suicide or drugs and not knowing how to talk to the person when they knew something was wrong. Now feeling regret that he didn't do anything.
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anonymous Sep 6th 2006, 14:18 report
This song really reminds me of my dad and how he chose drugs over me. I did try to talk to him about it, but he still chooses what he does and his life now over his little girl, but that's just me..... This song sounds like it can mean anything to anybody. But really, issac wrote it about a friend that was in need for help because he was on drugs.... Idk.... Like I said that's just me. :]
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anonymous Sep 12th 2006, 11:14 report
I thought this was that someone was bringing problems with a bad relationship to the other person...That they were breaking up with them and telling them they "need to talk"..."lost a friend"...That can be deemed that when you lose a mate you lose a friend...
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anonymous Sep 13th 2006, 22:08 report
A worried person confronting his friend about the friend's serious drug problems.
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anonymous Sep 20th 2006, 13:20 report
This song was actually writen to describe the feeling of being questioned by a police detective following the discovery of a good friend who died....
The lyrics try to depict the uselessness of being involved in such a terrible event...And how it could have been diferent had someone been willing to help... -
anonymous Sep 22nd 2006, 12:09 report
It's about a girl that wants to tell a guy about certain things in they're relationship, the guy has no idea they're going on, and dosent really want to listen, but she really needs to talk about it.
They brake up, and instead of leaving they're relationship as friends, one of them destroys the chance of friendship.
She tells him that he has to stop whatever he's doing "break with the ones you followed", the conversation gets no where and she wonders why she even bothers. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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chelsy Oct 10th 2006, 00:53 report
I think this song is about a F'd up relationship. Someone is afraid of confronting the other, because he/she knows that the other is not willing to listen. The person initiating the confrontation knows how much the relationship means or could mean to both of them, but somehow the other person has lost sight of the fact or maybe has never acknowledged the fact to begin with. When they talk about one going left and one going right, I think it means one is thinking about what would be lost and the other is ignoring the very existance or never acknowledged it to begin with. He/she fears the pain or makes it easier on theirselves by placing blame...Tough decision and they wonder why they bothered at all, because it seems to be a lose-lose situation. I think the 2nd verse talks about the someone getting defensive about the things the other one is concerned about. The concerned one gets pissed, but knows (or thinks) staying calm is the best way to get the closed door to open. She/he has to choose to put up with the bull shit or break away from it even though it's hard. He/she lays down the list of what they are feeling and if there is no response...They know they did what they could. The other person either comes out with it and admits their own faults or they remain silent, because they don't see what will be lost.
When two people are extremely close they form a life together; he/she could have saved that life if they would have known how to reach the other... -
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anonymous Oct 11th 2006, 15:54 report
I like the concept the last person was able to draw from the song, because I have just gone through that exact depiction. Granted, with music there are endless possibilities of interpretations, that's the beauty of opinion.
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anonymous Oct 11th 2006, 17:02 report
To me, this song clearly goes through an intervention between friends. The singer is confronting a person about a problem (drugs). The friend can't admit to the problem, and is resistant to see the singer's points. It is frustrating to see someone hurting themselves and not able to do anything about it.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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itchaboi Nov 3rd 2006, 16:22 report
Well apparently this song is about Isaac's experience with the troubled teens camp, but, if you look past that it does sound a lot like a girl is trying to tell a boy something very important whether it be, breaking up, cheating, or drugs, but she can't get what she really wants to say out because if she doesn't express herself right she will lose him. Thats kinda what it sounds like in my opinion
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anonymous Nov 3rd 2006, 22:35 report
The song how to save a life was influenced by Isaac Slade's experience working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens.
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anonymous Nov 4th 2006, 00:11 report
It's about suicide.
I just got out of the hospital. I have major depression and had been struggling with suicidal thoughts for months. And so many people knew and thought if they just said a few cliches to me that it would go away. Or they'd get mad at me or say I wasn't serious and I felt so alone. I know those people, if they had known how to save my life, would have stayed up with me all night. And then they would have taken me to a hospital and gotten me help. The people who knew what to do wouldn't help me. I left messages at psychiatrists' offices begging for help and their secretaries, when I finally got a hold of them, would say they didn't accept my insurance. And when I asked where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to do, they said they didn't know. Good luck. But my friend and my parents, had they known what to do, they would have done it.
But they didn't know and I couldn't tell them for so long. By the grace of god I finally made my friend take me to the emergency room. I'd listened to this song so many times, and all I could think was, if I didn't get to a hospital, that this is how my mom and my friend would have felt. I didn't want them to feel this way. Every time I hear this song, I wish people would get online and look up how to save their friends, whether it's from drugs or alcohol or suicide. Stay up all night if you need to and get help, whether they're capable of asking for it or not. Get help. -
anonymous Nov 5th 2006, 16:42 report
"Bittersweet inspiration: the song how to save a life was influenced by slade's experience working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. "one of the kids I was paired up with was a musician. Here I was, a protected suburbanite, and he was just 17 and had all these problems. And no one could write a manual on how to save him. ..."
~i copied this from howtosavealife.Com, which I found from the fray's homepage. So apparently it's more than just one problem (drugs, etc) that he's talking about, but here's proof that it was about a young kid with problems and nobody knew how to help him. -
anonymous Nov 14th 2006, 20:32 report
I first heard this song a few days after I got out of the hospital after a motorcycle accident.
The whole thing, to me, semed very medical. Then again, that's what was on my mind, so it could just be me.
For the first stanza, I thought it was about a doctor and a friend or relative of a patient talking about the patient's death, or something like that.
The chorus makes me think of someone standing alongside a dying friend. They didn't actually 'lose them in the bitterness', but when someone close to you dies, you feel like you didn't appreciate them and they died with bitterness.
The 'drive until you lose the road' stanza reminds me of a car accident, and the split- second choices you have to make.
Of course, this is just my interpretation. There is an official meaning, something about a drug addict..
If anyone might have gotten wht I got from this song, please email me: morgborgx@yahoo.Com
↓ More How to Save a Life meanings below the jump ↓
More The Fray song meanings »
How to Save a Life lyrics
How to Save a Life is considered:
Songs about Drugs
Songs about Suicide
Songs about Friendship
Emotions: Sad Songs
Songs about Regret
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