"How to Save a Life"
Single by The Fray from the album How to Save a Life
Released	2006
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2004
Genre	Alternative rock, Piano Rock, ballad
Length	4:23 (album version) 3:58 (single hit version)
Label	Epic Records
Writer	Isaac Slade, Joe King
Producer	Mike Flynn, Aaron Johnson
Certification	Platinum
The Fray singles chronology
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" (2005) "How to Save a Life" (2006) "Look After You" (2007) The Fray UK singles chronology "How to Save a Life" (2007) "Over My Head (Cable Car)" (2007) How to Save a Life track listing "Over My Head (Cable Car)" (2) "How To Save A Life" (3) "All At Once" (4)

"How to Save a Life" is an alternative rock song by Colorado-based rock band The Fray. It is the title track from their debut album, How to Save a Life. It was the follow-up single to the top 10 hit "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and peaked in the top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. It became the joint fifth longest charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with Santana's "Smooth" (1999), at 58 consecutive weeks. The song has sold over 2,000,000 downloads, and has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. It is the band's highest-charting song to date, topping the Adult Top 40 chart for 15 consecutive weeks and topping the Canadian Airplay Chart. The single is backed with a live version performed in a Q101 studio. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2007. It lost to "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The song is the band's first to achieve significant popularity outside of the United States. "How to Save a Life" was a top five hit in Australia, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Due to an early leak by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, where it was the band's debut single, the song was released in that country 5 weeks earlier than planned and peaked at #4.

Lyrics and melody

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:

Slade claims that the song is about all of the people that tried to reach out to the boy but were unsuccessful. As Slade says in an interview, the boy's friends and family approached him by saying, "Quit [the problem behavior] or I won't talk to you again," but all he needed was some support. The verses of the song describe an attempt by an adult to confront a troubled teen. In the chorus, the singer laments that he himself was unable to save a friend because he did not know how.

While this was the original intent of the song, the band has opened the song to interpretation. They created a website where fans were welcome to submit music videos they had made for the song. This arose from the response that Slade got from the song:

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Popularity in TV Series

The song was first featured on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, after Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for the show, saw the band perform in Los Angeles. She was impressed with their performance, particularly with the song "How to Save a Life". Alexandra then incorporated the song into "Superstition", an episode of the show's second season (first aired on March 19, 2006). After its usage in the episode, the song became a minor Hot 100 hit. The song became an "unofficial theme" for the other members of the Grey's Anatomy production after the episode aired, leading to the decision that the song would be used in the main promotion for the third season in the show.^[2]

The song was then featured on NBC's comedy medical series Scrubs, towards the end of the episode "My Lunch" on April 25, 2006, when three patients die from rabies contracted through organ transplants. Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) feels that it is through his oversight that the deaths occur, and subsequently, he emotionally collapses, and walks out of the hospital mid-shift. It also plays in the episode "My Night to Remember", while looking back on the awkward moments in his life, J.D. says how "the Fray is always playing" whenever he thinks of them "How to Save a Life" starts playing, and J.D. quickly says, "No, not that Fray song!", and "She Is" starts playing instead.

One week after the promotion for Grey's Anatomy's third season began to air, "How to Save a Life" advanced from position #51 to position #29 on the Hot 100. As the promotion played, the song continued to climb on the charts, reaching a peak position of #3 in the Billboard issue marked October 7, 2006. On September 21, 2006, a Grey's Anatomy version of the music video (similar to the one made for Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars") was shown prior to the third season premiere of the show. The song was also released as one of the tracks on the Grey's Anatomy, Vol. 2 soundtrack album, and would later be used in the trailer for the Australian release of the show.

In addition to Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, the song has been aired in episodes of One Tree Hill, The Hills, 8th & Ocean, Cold Case and for the final episode of Big Brother 8 in the UK. HBO used the song for its "Summer Image" television campaign, and it was also used in the trailer for the film Reign Over Me.

During the season preview for the new Tila Tequila show " A Shot at Love", "How to save a life" plays as the backdrop music.

Music videos

The car crash in the original "How to Save a Life" music video

Four distinct music videos exist for this song.

The original music video, which premiered on VH1 on September 12, 2006, featured the recurring themes of light and stopped time. This music video shows the scene of a car crash and all of its presumed victims in pause. There is a recurring light throughout the video shining brightly in the dark woods that the video takes place in. Scenes of the band playing in a dark warehouse are intercut with the story going on outside. This version of the video was placed at #21 of the year by VH1's "Top 40 Videos of 2006." Another version of the music video juxtaposes scenes from Grey's Anatomy to scenes of the original music video. However, all the scenes of the presumed car crash victims are excluded and only scenes of The Fray playing in a warehouse are shown.

A third music video was released for the song on December 6, 2006. It was directed by Mark Pellington, who is known for his work on the "Jeremy" music video among others. The video features various different kids, most of which seem to be between 12-18 in age, all who appear to be depressed and suicidal. Many of the kids cry and scream in the video, all against a white background. Scenes of the band playing the song against this same white background are also shown throughout the video. Many numbered steps are shown alongside the kids, such as "Remember", "Cry", or "Let it Go". The video ends with each child seeming to find a catharsis. This version of the video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live at #9, and has since gone on to top the countdown at #1 on December 21, 2006, becoming the band's first TRL #1, and also becoming the last #1 video on TRL for 2006. A fourth video takes the form of a slideshow composed of images of the 2001 World Trade Center disaster with the song played over it.

Charts

Sample

References

External links

• "How To Save A Life (Mark Pellington Version)" Music Video
• Thefray.net — the band's official website.
• Howtosavealife.com — official website dedicated to the song.
• Savealifecampaign.com — The Save A Life Campaign.
• "How to Save a Life" video group — a group of videos on YouTube related to the song.

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