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How to Save a Life

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"How to Save a Life"
Song

"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 five weeks earlier than planned and peaked at #4, but still ended 2007 as the year's eleventh biggest-selling single in the country.[1]

Lyrics

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.

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:[2]

I got a lot of e-mails 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.

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.[3]

The song was then featured on NBC's comedy medical series Scrubs, towards the end of the popular 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", when J.D. mentions that "the Fray is always playing" in his head whenever he thinks about certain moments from his past.

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, Family Guy, Ghost Whisperer, The Hills, 8th & Ocean, Cold Case and in the UK for the final episode of Big Brother 8, the encore episode of Echo Beach and in BBC 1 trailers of series 22 Casualty. 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.

The melody to the song was also parodied in a popular YouTube video called "PS3 Song: How to Kill a Brand" which blasted Sony for several missteps that ultimately led to the PlayStation 3 lagging behind both the Xbox 360 and Wii.[4]. Which led to a similar song highlighting the faults of the Xbox 360 being made to the tune of 99 Luftballons.

Music videos

  • Six distinct music videos exist for this song.

1.) 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".vvd

2.) 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.

3.) 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.

4.) A fourth video takes the form of a slideshow composed of images of the September 11, 2001 attacks with the song played over it.

5.) A fifth one featuring Hurricane Katrina aftermath in New Orleans with the song played over it.

6.) A sixth video features a slide show of the members of Bright Green House and friends. As the music video progresses, more and more images show Robert Barg, until the slide show devolves into a Barg photo shoot. As the song closes, a black background appears, with white text commemorating the end of "Hookup Barg" and the beginning of "Just talk" Barg.

Track listings

UK CDS 1

  1. "How To Save A Life"
  2. "She Is" - Acoustic from Stripped Raw + Real

UK CDS 2

  1. "How To Save A Life"
  2. "How To Save A Life" - Acoustic from Stripped Raw + Real
  3. "She Is" - Acoustic from Stripped Raw + Real
  4. "How To Save A Life" - CD-Rom Video

Charts

Preceded by
"Give Me a Minute" by 21 Demands
 Irish Singles Chart number-one single
March 29 2007 		Succeeded by

Sample

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

References

  1. ^ BBC Music. "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007 ". Retrieved 2007-12-27
  2. ^ "Debut 'How to Save a Life' takes on a life of its own". USA Today. July 12, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "How 'Grey's' got that catchy new "theme" song". New York Post. September 24, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ YouTube - PS3 Song
  5. ^ 'How to Save a Life' in Bulgaria
  6. ^ a b The song is currently at its peak on this chart and may continue to rise.
  7. ^ Ibero-American Top 100 Singles Chart, July 30, 2007]
  8. ^ Mexican Top 100 Singles Chart, July 30, 2007]
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