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The Fray – How To Save A Life (music video and lyrics)

Effective Living > MusicLifeways

The Fray - How to Save a Life - Green Caterpillar on Piano KeysSummary. The song How to Save a Life by The Fray was influenced by band member Isaac Slade who worked as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. The song was the title song for the album How to Save a Life.

The song has sold over two million downloads. The music video of the song (below) has been viewed over 10 million times. It is one of the fifth longest charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100, at 58 consecutive weeks.

Video Link

If the embedded music video below does not play due to Java limitations on your device, you can view the video directly on YouTube. [Watch on YouTube]

Music Video

The music video of the song (below) shows images and videos of troubled youth combined with words and other images that convey how delicate life is. The green caterpillar shown here on the piano keyboard is juxtaposed to the image of a butterfly elsewhere in the video. You can click the [x] in the upper right corner of the advertisement in the video to close it and move it out of the way.

Lyrics. Below are the lyrics to How to Save a Life by The Fray.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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
How to save a life
How to save a life

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

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
How to save a life

By Greg Johnson

Greg Johnson is a freelance writer and tech consultant in Iowa City. He is also the founder and Director of the ResourcesForLife.com website. Learn more at AboutGregJohnson.com