<P> "How to Save a Life" is a song by American pop rock band The Fray . It was released as the second single from their debut studio album of the same name . The song is one of the band's most popular airplay songs and peaked in the top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States . It became the joint seventh longest charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with Santana's "Smooth" (1999), at 58 consecutive weeks . The song has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA, and has sold 4.7 million downloads as of January 2015, the fourth best - selling rock song in digital history . </P> <P> 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 . It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2007, but lost to "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers . </P> <P> According to lead singer Isaac Slade, the song was composed and influenced by his experience while working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens: </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> One of the youngsters 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 . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Meaning of the song how to save a life by the fray