What does How to Save a Life mean?

The Fray: How to Save a Life Meaning

Album cover for How to Save a Life album cover

Song Released: 2006


How to Save a Life Lyrics

Step one you say we need to talk
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...

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  1. anonymous
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     Jun 26th 2010 !⃝

    This song was really written because of the drug addict Isaac met at a camp, but it could be taken differently. I viewed it as the police officer coming into the house and trying to tell her that her husband has just died in a car accident

  2. anonymous
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     Apr 22nd 2010 !⃝

    This song reminds me of when my aunt died if I had been with her she would not have died alone.

  3. anonymous
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     Apr 1st 2010 !⃝

    I didn't think that the song was actually about a person that died. I thought that it was about someone who feels like they're dying or dead inside and nobody notices. They can't be saved because they feel like nobody cares enough about them to notice.

  4. anonymous
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     Mar 2nd 2010 !⃝

    This song is about his friend being depressed and he didn't help him and his friend committed suicide.

  5. anonymous
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     Jan 12th 2010 !⃝

    Slade did intend for it to be about having an intervention with a drug addicted kid and wishing he had known what to say, or how to save a life. However the band later decided that listeners should create their own interpretations and even created a website where people could post their interpretations.

    The wonderful thing about this song is how many meanings it can have. The meaning of this song is partly created by the lyrics but also created by the listener. The song is generally about loss and losing someone dear, however how that person is lost is not specifically said in the song so it is open to interpretation.

  6. skyguy
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     Dec 28th 2009 !⃝

    it's about losing a friend (to suicide, drugs, depression, changing their personality etc....) and feeling bad about not saving them before it was too late

  7. anonymous
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     Nov 21st 2009 !⃝

    I don't have any idea how someone could think this is about a boyfriend and girlfriend. I honestly have NO idea where you would get that from this song. Clearly it's about someone who has a REAL problem, like drugs or they're suicidal (often the same damn thing), not someone whining about a girlfriend. For me personally, I keep thinking about a friend who died when he got out of jail because he overdosed. He lost his tolerance over the eight months he was in county and came out and tried to do the same amount of dope he was doing before. It makes me think about all the things I could have done differently by him that might have changed things... even just this morning as I was putting my makeup on in the car before work this song came on and I ruined it by crying. I had to turn it off. I guess the moral of the story is you have to try to help. Even if it seems hopeless or you'll end up with two wasted lives, theirs and yours ruined by guilt.

  8. anonymous
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     Nov 10th 2009 !⃝

    even though i dont believe this is the real meaning of the song, as other people have collected qoutes from the actual lead singer, i always thought that it was about someone who had just lost a very close friend or family member and in the music video and in the lyrics it is giving you instructions on how to overcome your grief. But hey, that was just my thoughts they may be very different from the actual meaning of the song, but they can't be wrong if they are my own personal opinion.

  9. The_Secret_Composer
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     Oct 23rd 2009 !⃝

    First time I heard this song I got the impression that the girl has come to comfront her boyfriend about a problem but he doesn't seem to get it, and she feels as if shes lost him. And that the part where it says
    "And I would have stayed up with you all night
    Had I known how to save a life

    I think its saying she would have stayed and helped him if she'd known how to. Thats my first thoughts but now that I've read others I can see how it'd be about drugs.

  10. anonymous
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     Sep 26th 2009 !⃝

    I don't know what it means but I think it's about he thinks he could have saved the life of his friend.

  11. anonymous
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     Sep 19th 2009 !⃝

    I always thought the song was about someone feeling guilty for not being there for their suicidal friend.

  12. anonymous
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     Sep 10th 2009 !⃝

    i, as well as a few other people, think it's about suicide.
    think about it, "i would have stayed up with you all night had i know how to save a life." i know the REAL meaning is about the kid in the camp and all, but when i first heard this, it immediately clicked for me. if someone knew about the suicidal thoughts, they would have saved the person's life. its like a guide to what to do if you are having those thoughts.

  13. anonymous
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     Sep 3rd 2009 !⃝

    i took this as a friend who is suicidal and you try to help him, by talking to him, but he isnt working with you. and your afraid and you blame yourself.
    you let him knw that you know whats good for him, because you are obviously thinking straighter than he is. you try to ignore his excuses and defenses, but you dont let him believe that he is innocent and that this isnt a problem. you point out what is wrong with the picture. and you pray for him, you pray that he hears where your coming from and that he knows how important he is to you.
    he gets mad, you stay cool. he will eather admit he has a problem, or say he's not like you and other people, that you dont understand.
    and you lost him. you were mad at him and you couldnt help him in the way that he needed help. you tried everything you could, but you just couldnt help.

    i wish you would have talked to me alex. i wish i knew there was a problem. i wish i had known how to save your life my friend.

  14. anonymous
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     Aug 31st 2009 !⃝

    Many prior interpretations have this pretty close. Here's some additional detail from an interview with Isaac Slade:
    Well there’s a group home here in Denver called Shelterwood (now located in KC, MO and Branson, MO), and it takes in kids who’ve had a tough time; their parents don’t want to send them to jail, but they can’t keep track of them
    themselves… A friend of mine was actually the president for that particular school, so he asked Joe and I to come up for one of their weekend retreats… I was paired up with one kid in particular. His story was just amazing – all the relationships that he had put at risk because of the decisions he made, and eventually losing the relationships…the cost of his lifestyle and his choices, and kind of relating them to my own life and my own stories;
    seeing all the relationships I’ve threatened for one reason or another. It was a really inspiring weekend.

  15. anonymous
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     Aug 25th 2009 !⃝

    In my eyes, I see it as the speakers, friend who has commited suicide due to a bad relationship or something. So for arguments sake, say that the speakers friend has broke up with his girlfriend. The speaker goes round to his friends home to comfort him. His friend is distraught but convinces the speaker that he is fine so the speaker leaves. Then, the friend kills himself. Hense the lyrics 'Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend. Somewhere in the bitterness and if i'd have stayed up with you all night, I'd have known how to save a life.'

    I feel this is a better fit to the lyrics than the drug problem. I may be wrong though.

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