<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> <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> <P> 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 taking drugs and cutting yourself or I won't talk to you again," but all he needed was some support . The boy was losing friends and going through depression . He lost his best friend and could not deal with it . 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 . </P> <P> 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: </P>

Whats the fray how to save a life about