What do you think How to Save a Life means?

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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     Apr 28th 2007 !⃝

    Some mega interpretations going on there...

  2. anonymous
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     Apr 24th 2007 !⃝

    We know the meaning of the song but we feel it is also aimed at people who have a lot of problems and they feel that there is no one to talk to. When they get to the point where they are suicidal they wished they had of turned to someone so they could of saved their life.

  3. anonymous
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     Apr 23rd 2007 !⃝

    A comment says more about yourself than it does about the song.

  4. anonymous
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     Apr 20th 2007 !⃝

    In an interview with the lead singer, Isaac Slade, he stated that the song 1.) Was about the intervention he had with a person he used to counsel. 2.) Was about his rocky and troubled relationship with his younger brother. and 3.) Was ambiguous in meaning and could be applicable in many situations. He said that it would be interpreted in different ways by different people.

    I honestly don't think that anyone needs to go on with this because, like stated above, the song has many different meanings. Let it mean what you want it to mean.

  5. anonymous
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     Apr 15th 2007 !⃝

    I believe this song is about a troubled relationship. In the beginning of the song the girl is talking and basically says "we need to talk." (about the relationship).Then the song goes on to say "Some sort of window to your right As he goes left and you stay right" meaning a new window to get out of the relationship and they are going there separate ways.After that saying "Between the lines of fear and blame And you begin to wonder why you came." This means that they start to blame each other for the break up and wonder why they even got together. The Chorus consisting the lyrics of "Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life." My interpertation of this is that this is when the man is talking and when they say life it really means their life together.The man says that he has lost a friend (meaning wife) along in the bitterness of their fighting and breaking up. Then goes on to say he would have stayed up all night to save his relationship if he had known how to save a life (meaning the life of their relationship).That takes care of the chorus now the rest of the song next comes "Let him know that you know best
    Cause after all you do know best." This is said by the women to herself because she has to make him learn that she know hopw to fix the relationship best.Then later says "Lay down a list of what is wrong The things you've told him all along." Now this is her trying to fix the relationship by telling what he is doing wrong thing she's told him all along but she didn't listen.Think about it if this song were
    talking about a real life and how to save it why would they save that line and who are they talking to when they say it?
    Next and last "As he begins to raise his voice You lower yours and grant him one last choice Drive until you lose the road Or break with the ones you've followed He will do one of two things He will admit to everything Or he'll say he's just not the same And you'll begin to wonder why you came" This finally means that during their talk the man raises his vocie and the woman lowers hers and in that giving him a chocie to either stick with the relationship till he can see if they can fix it or break up. Then when she givs him that chocie he will either admit he is the problem or say he's changed and blame it on that and if he say he's changed you will change your mind and break up.WOW IF YOU STUCK THROUGH THAT AND UNDERSTOOD IT YOU ARE AMAZING.Ok that is my interpretation and if you made if this far in the reading you are either really really REALLY bored or your just a loser!!!!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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     Apr 11th 2007 !⃝

    To me it means a someone close to him was addicted to alcohol or drugs and they died while high or drunk. So he is saying if he had stayed and talked to them they would not have died that night. Probably not the right answer but it's what I think.

  7. anonymous
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     Apr 11th 2007 !⃝

    Tthe lead singer used to work in a youth hostel before being in the fray and one of the youths he knew or looked after, committed suicide. He now feels like a failure and is constantly wracked with guilt that there was something he may of been able to do to help.

  8. anonymous
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     Apr 10th 2007 !⃝

    OK you requested it so here it is, How To Save A Life by The Fray: The Meaning. Someone has already cracked half of it by saying that it is about drug addiction. If you can understand that then you are half way there. It is about a father who is trying to deal with the issue that his son is on drugs. It is the steps he is taking on the path to confronting his son's problem and solving it. "Step one you say we need to talk" says that the father is trying to be rational about the current situation. When the son walks, he is trying to walk away from the problem. There is that awkward moment when no one knows what to say and everyone looks in opposite directions hoping that the problem will go away. The father is looking through "some sort of window to his right" showing that maybe he is trying to get through to the son but the son just can't hear him or maybe doesn't want to hear him. The son goes left (following the path of drug addiction) The father stays right (staying on the straight and narrow) The father then feels like he is getting nowhere and he begins to wonder why he came. In the discussion that must follow, his son and him argue and they fall out. The son just cannot grasp that the father is saying this for his own good. I think that maybe in the chorus that the son is dead and the father is now saying that he lost a friend when the drugs took over and he lost him again when he died and he would have stayed up all night trying to talk him out of his drug taking if he'd have known that it could have saved him. The father is trying to let the boy know that he knows better than the boy, which in this case is obviously true because the boy cannot see that what he is doing is wrong. In the last verse the boy loses his temper and his father gives him an ultimatum and says he can either "Drive until you lose the road" meaning keep taking drugs and ultimately meet an untimely death, or "break with the ones you've followed" meaning quit the drugs and start afresh. It then says "He will do one of two things, he'll admit to everything" meaning that here the boy may realize what he's doing is wrong and seek help or "he'll say he's just not the same" meaning he was a different person before he started the drug abuse but he thinks he can't change back from this. Then the father will once again wonder why he is bothering with it and that nothing he can say is going to make the boy see sense. This song is an amazing one and so many messages and it is very versatile. It can also describe a failing relationship from a womans point of view that she is trying to resolve and in the chorus they have broken up, but I think I shall leave that for someone else to write about because I have written enough all ready. I hope this helps anyone who wanted to know the meaning of this and I thank you for taking the time to read this as it is very long. It is a beautiful song and I think the lyrics should mean something to people rather than just being pretty words stringed together. Thank you. @)-,-'-

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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     Apr 9th 2007 !⃝

    This song is based off of the experience that isaac slade had with a drug addicted teen.
    Here he was with a drug addicted teen, and he was a sheltered suburban kid, and he had to mentor the kid and help in this time where no one else was helping him but instead were claiming to never speak to him again if he didn't stop when all that he needed was support.
    But I think that it's about, say I am a person, and a family member or a friend or a parent or a sibling or a person I'm in a relationship with is beginning to slip and I begin to notice and I try to help but I realize that can't I just hav to support this person, because I can't fix their problem but I can support them.
    And its starts off ok so we need to talk but this person already knows wats goin on and its hard because they don't want to hear it but your lik no come on we just hav to get through this. And you try to help him but you can't help him and you realize that you just hav to support them because its the only thing to do to save them. And because you kno wats right but it still doesn't work so then its lik you lay down the facts that your losing everything for this that's not worth it. And its all the path of either slipping or turning around on this road.
    Its basically just the story of the person slipping and you trying to help and you realize that all you can do is support them in order to save their life.
    The line goes, "I would have stayed up with you all night had I known how to save a life."
    And so its like id help you all they way through if I knew how. And then you learn how, suport to save a life.

  10. jjrules
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     Apr 7th 2007 !⃝

    Now I don't get this song at all. How do these people no about this drug thing. Please can you help me. E-mnail me at

    pokemaniac_jake@hotmail.co.uk

  11. X_Babii_H_X
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     Apr 6th 2007 !⃝

    Even if it is only about that one situation, it makes people think: 'Hey. I'm gonna get off my arse and, stay up all night if it is what will save them and do all in my power to save my friends life, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just let them die.' So, no matter what it's about, its inspirational, and hopefully will stop quite a few suicides.

  12. ConfusedAlways
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     Apr 4th 2007 !⃝

    This song is about a parent and child trying to set things right. It's mainly from a third party's point of view but occasionally switches to the child and parent's view.

    the first verse: "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 and blame/ And you begin to wonder why you came." Is from the third party's view. It wanders into the minds of both the parent and the child; describes what they do during this fight.

    Second Verse: "Let him know that you know best/
    Cause after all you do know best/ Try to slip past his defense/ Without granting innocence/ Lay down a list of what is wrong/ The things you've told him all along/ And pray to God he hears you/ And pray to God he hears you." I think in this verse, Isaac takes the place as a conscience of some sort but still participates as the third party. Here as the conscience, he trys to tell the parent how to handle their teenager.

    Third Verse: "As he begins to raise his voice/ You lower yours and grant him one last choice/ Drive until you lose the road/ Or break with the ones you've followed/ He will do one of two things/ He will admit to everything/ Or he'll say he's just not the same/ And you'll begin to wonder why you came." This verse is my favorite! Once again Isaac takes the place as the parents conscience and tries to give the parent advice. "Drive until you lose the road/ Or break with the ones you've followed" simply means either we fight this out until it's solve (which could break us) or I end all of my ways and follow yours. In the following line, he states, once you have admitted your wrong-doings, the teen will admit to all of his or he'll say that he's not the same as he was before things went sour and then the parent will wonder why he even bothered to do this. In others words, they followed the first "road" mentioned in the verse. "Drive until you lose the road." Hearts where broken and might not be mended in this certain department.

    Chorus: "Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend/ Somewhere along in the bitterness/ And I would have stayed up with you all night/ Had I known how to save a life." The chorus is the parent possibly speaking out loud or just thinking. (I'll go with thinking) He wonders about how things have escalated to this point in his relationship with his teenager which is mostly bitterness. (Perphaps the mother left or something of the sort.) He starts to regret that he never took enough time, or that his teenager thinks that he didn't, to understand him...maybe that would've taught him how to save a life.

    Thanks all,
    ~AmiJane~

  13. anonymous
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     Apr 3rd 2007 !⃝

    I think the song is about the lead singer going to a summer camp as a mentor and he's with this troubled teen who's addicted to drugs and his family (The Teen's) approached him by saying quit or I won't talk to you and all he needs is a little support. He's saying how he looses all these friend doing it.

  14. anonymous
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     Apr 2nd 2007 !⃝

    Okay there's aloy of different things this song could mean and I don't know exactly what it is, but I think it's about someone who looses a friend to a drug dealer, that's why when in the video when they're playing poker, he sees the poker chip that says dealer on it..he goes nuts, because they were all in on the drug deal, and when his friend dies they all go nuts because they should have known how to save his life. They all die meaningfully because they feel horrible.

  15. anonymous
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     Apr 1st 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is about a couple that break up, and is about all about the stages they go through. In a way I can relate to it because my parents broke up. I think its a really gd song. Definitely a 10/10!!

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