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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     Mar 30th 2007 !⃝

    Well....I think this song could be about someone who had a friend who committed suicide....and they tried to talk their friend out of it but they just stopped being friends or whatever so they gave up and then they're friend killed themselves and they wish they would have been there for them.....sorry....this is...kinda confusing....

  2. anonymous
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     Mar 27th 2007 !⃝

    Apparently this song is about the singer's experience of crashing his car with his best friend in the passenger seat. His friend died, but he survived (obviously) and this is him kind of telling him that he's sorry =[

  3. anonymous
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     Mar 24th 2007 !⃝

    I hear it as someone telling someone else about his friends [presumably a girl] who confronted her abusive boyfriend. He doesn't hear her logic though, and kills her.

  4. anonymous
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     Mar 22nd 2007 !⃝

    well there actually is a recording with voices from the 911 attacks with the song in between the lyrics.. and with the voices cut inbetween it actually goes really well. I mean think about it "lost a friend somewhere in the bitterness". war is pretty bitter aint it?

  5. anonymous
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     Mar 20th 2007 !⃝

    I think the song is about a guy confronting his friend over his drug problem.

    He describes the difficulties of bringing up the subject and the friends reluctance to talk. 'some sort of window to the right' I think represents an ecape from the problem of drugs, but the friend chooses to go left and the person 'wonders why he came'.

    The chorus is saying that the singer lost a friend to the problem and would have done anything had he known how to help his friend.

    In the second verse the singer tries again 'try to get past his defence' without trying to excuse the drug problem, 'without granting innocence'. The singer then prays that the friend will take it in, but as we hear in the chorus he clearly does not.

    In the third verse, the singer grants his friend one choice. 'drive until you lose the road', as in continue with the drugs or 'break with the ones you follow', the ones you follow being the drugs. The friend will either 'admit to everything' or not and again the singer wonders 'why he came'

    That's what I think

  6. anonymous
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     Mar 19th 2007 !⃝

    i use to have a friend, a depressed friend who was a little suicidle. we were like, the best of friends, and everyday I tried to help him out. with his problem. He wasn't into drugs or anything, but he still needed someone. and a few times he'd tell me 'at times I feel like no one cares, adn I guess that's the reason why I don't see why I even bother... bother living, trying to do sh*t' and I would talk to him until real late at night until he felt better. well, eventually I heard this song and literally started crying because I was thinking of him. and how I was there to help save his life. well, that's my interpretation, and how I could relate to whatever the singer was saying.

    ...err, I mean, just imo.

  7. anonymous
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     Mar 15th 2007 !⃝

    This song, in my opinion, is about surgery and dependency on drugs. Their friends and family are struggling to help, but no matter what, the one they love continues to go off in the other direction.

  8. anonymous
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     Mar 15th 2007 !⃝

    This song was written by Isaac Slade. He had an experience working as a mentor in a camp for troubled teens. He was paired up with a 17 year old musician who had so many problems. His family and friends just told him to quit his problem personality, or they would not talk to him. No one was able to write a manual on how to save him. In the song, the verses talk about an adult who tried to confront a troubled teen. The singer also sings about him not being able to "save the life" of that teen.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Save_a_Life_(song)
    http://www.howtosavealife.com/

    What I THINK the lyrics talk about is the process of how the adult tried to confront the teen.

    (Verse 1) Step 1 is to tell him, "we need to talk". He just walks, but the adult tells him to sit down because it is only a talk. He always objects to you (he goes left and you stay right) and because of all this, the adult thinks of the purpose on why he even thought of confronting the troubled teen.

    (Verse 2) The adult knows what is best. He has to break through the DEFENSE of the teen (which is avoiding the adult) and talk to the teen without letting him go away. The adult also prays that the teen will actually hear and listen to the adult.

    (Verse 3) No matter what the teen does, that adult still has to be determined to save the teen. "Drive until you lose the road" means keep trying until you really are lost and have no choice but to stop. The teen will then admit his problem and change, or he will just say he's not a typical kind of person and accept the fact that he is forced to live with a "problem attitude".

    Chorus: The singer sings on how he went wrong and was not able to save the teen. "Along the bitterness" means along all the problems and bitterness of the teen's family and friends. The singer also sang that he is willing to stay up with the teen ALL NIGHT if he knew how to save the teen.

  9. anonymous
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     Mar 15th 2007 !⃝

    I saw this song as meaning there ending a relationship with someone and it kinda explains 'the break up' process. 'step 1 you say we need to talk' kinda thing.. lol

  10. anonymous
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     Mar 14th 2007 !⃝

    alright, you all have many different opinions, but it's about anything that has to do with wrong choices. It's about anything that has to do with someone going down the wrong path of life (going left- because that's associated with the "wrong choice.") And we all know if someone is doing something that isn't the best choice, then they will not want to hear it even though "you do know best," (you know that because you are going right and there is a window there. As in opportunity or the continuing of your life.) So he could go down that road until he dies or quit with the addiction or problem that he/she is facing. (he will choose one of 2 things.) And you know that if you tell him what's wrong, he'll either just plainly admit to it or just say, "hey, I'm not the same as I was before. I'm a new person. I'm someone else now." So, basically you are trying to save their life but then they lose the person and they didn't know what they did wrong. And the fear and blame could be the person feeling that way for letting their friend get to that point in the first place. Because there's always that question, "what could I have done differently to save their life???" (before and after they got to that life-threatening point.)

  11. dearlyloved
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     Mar 13th 2007 !⃝

    I think its like half of the people have already said, it's about his friend who has done drugs. I see it as saying he regrets not doing more. I wish I coulda helped my mom more :(

  12. anonymous
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     Mar 12th 2007 !⃝

    Well I heard an interview on the radio with the Fray and they said that they used to have to work in this home with troubled teenagers. and this song is about a particular boy who had major drug and drink problems and how it affected his life and shizz

  13. anonymous
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     Mar 11th 2007 !⃝

    I think the song has a deep meaning of how someone should go about trying to save a loved one without pushing them away I believe my friend has this notion very well thought out as she has saved my life so many times but not all the time have I listened or wanted to listen to the advice given but eventually I realised I was losing everything that meant something to me and hurting my self in the prosses anyway I really like this song because it touches people in many ways and can have so many different and powerfull meanings behind it!

  14. anonymous
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     Mar 6th 2007 !⃝

    This Song is about a boy about 23 he played a game called everquest and he had a addiction to playing it. His mum and dad split up and the father gave him money to get a flat and he did and he shot himself right under the chin and killed himself right in front of his game because he had an addiction. On christmas day his mum came around to pick him up and that's where they found him and they made that song for his mum. Go on youtube right in how to save a life the fray music video then go on the 2nd or 3rd one down it tells you and I read it on addictions for games. It's true, if you don't believe me then don't, it's not about drugs or anything.

  15. anonymous
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     Mar 4th 2007 !⃝

    I think that this song is about a girl breaking up with her boyfriend (or the other way round). She wants to stay friends but the boy decides to wreck their frendship "I lost a friend" they argue and never want to see eachother again. Sometims when yu loose a friend they can seem dead to yu and they thing she could have done something to stop it "if i'd known how to save a life.

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