What is the song "How to Save a Life" by The Fray about??

Answer 1

In an interview with USA Today, lead singer 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."

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Answer 2

how many times is this question going to get asked?
It's about a teen Isaac Slade, the lead singer, mentored at a church camp who was over his head in drugs and alcohol. He told Isaac that he only wanted someone to come along side him as a friend to help him solve his problem, instead of as an enemy with a change-or-I-won't-talk-to-you-anymore attitude, which he never really got. Isaac wrote the song about what the kid really wanted and how Isaac would want someone to approach him if he were doing something wrong. It is told from the point of view of one of those people with the negative attitude and them realizing their mistakes after he's gone.
The name of the song comes from a sign at a swimming pool that Isaac saw with directions on CPR titled . . . How To Save A Life.
Last I heard, was still alive though . . . and Isaac had just recently talked to him

Answer 3

According to lead singer and songwriter Isaac Slade, the song was composed and influenced by his experience while 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",qoutes Slade

Answer 4

Im pretty shure it means this:

This song is about a fight that Fray singer/pianist Isaac Slade had with his brother Caleb - who is nicknamed "Cable Car" - back when Caleb still played bass for The Fray before getting kicked out in 2002. Isaac wanted Caleb to leave the band because Caleb wasn't so great. This song is about a conflict told through Caleb's eyes. "Everything falling through" refers to the band coming apart because of the conflict. In the song, Caleb wishes that someone had just been honest with him earlier and told him that they wanted him to leave. He then feels apathetic about the band and resigns himself to run away. The second verse is where Caleb calls out the rest of the band and says that they will find a new bass player ("another friend") but will just mistreat him like they did him. Caleb is in over his head because he thought he could be a great musician, but it turns out he wasn't good enough. (thanks, Maci - Sylacauga, AL)

Answer 5

It is about how isaac slade (the lead singer and pianist) was working at a camp with troubled teenagers and he was the mentor to this one kid with so many problems that his family rejected him for, and he was on drugs. Nobody could save the kid (who commited suicide) and the kid was Isaac's friend, that is why he looks so sad when he sings the song.

the songs basically like a manual for how to save a life

Answer 6

I think it's like, about how to save a life or something.

Answer 7

the lead singer used to work with "problem children" at a youth center or something, and this is his story of one of the kids he worked with...

Answer 8

I think it's about a car acident. if you read the lyrics you get that vibe from it.

Answer 9

Pretty sure it's about a car accident

Answer 10

it's the singer's story on how he helped an drug addicted friend.