I’ve been listening to this song for a long time and I really like it. The music which is primarily driven by piano and drums is full of emotions. But it was just recently that the lyrics of this song got me. It was probably my mood last week that I felt like the song is talking to me.

I first interpreted that the song is about a relationship between 2 friends / lovers / couple who each went on their own ways. Then, one person in the relationship would like to give it another chance by talking to the other party. For me, the song captures the feeling of awkwardness (see Verse I) and difficulty (see Verses II and III) of trying to resolve a problem when the 2 parties haven’t communicated in a long time. The party who initiated the talk also acknowledges that he / she somehow has a part why the relationship ended (see Chorus).

I checked the web for the writer’s influence for the song and found out that it is about trying to reach out to a troubled teen. According to Wikipedia:

"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."

For me, this is simply a great song.

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How To Save A Life by The Fray

Verse I

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
And 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

Verse II

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

Verse III

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

Here you can check out the music video