The Fray - How to Save a Life

Isaac Slade explained that he wrote this song about an experience he had working at a camp for troubled youths:

"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 got a lot of email about it. One kid died in a car accident, and I guess it had been the last song he downloaded from his computer. They played it at his funeral, and some of his friends got 'Save A Life' tattooed on their arms. The response has been overwhelming."

"I still get an incredible number of emails about that song. We've got friends who think it's great not having to think because they're drunk or high. But there's a better way to be happy."

The Fray is comprised of devout Christians, and this song certainly has some religious subtext, with specific references to God:

And I pray to God he hears you

The Christian music community embraced the song, sending it to #4 on the Christian Songs chart, but it wasn't marketed as a religious song and was also a hit in the secular community - it made #3 on the Hot 100 and was also a #1 Adult Contemporary hit.

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 and blame

You begin to wonder why you came

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

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 I pray to God He hears you, and

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

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

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

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

How to save a life

How to save a life

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

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

How to save a life

How to save a life