How To Save A Life Chords

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Difficulty:	intermediate
Tuning:	E A D G B E
Key:	G
Capo:	3rd fret

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9 contributors total, last edit on Aug 1, 2024

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Chords

D/F#

Em7

Strumming

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* - Strum once
 
[Intro]
G  D/F#  G  D/F#
 
[Verse 1]
G                    D/F#
Step one you say we need to talk
    Em7              D/F#             G
He walks you say sit down it’s just a talk
             D/F#           Em7
He smiles politely back at you
             D/F#             G
You stare politely right on through
               D/F#          Em7
Some sort of window to your right
             D/F#             G
As he goes left and you stay right
              D/F#             Em7
Between the lines of fear and blame
                  D/F#
And you begin to wonder why you came
 
[Chorus]
C               D                Em
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D                Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G*    D/F#*
Had I known how to save a life
 
[Instrumental]
G   D/F#   Em7   D/F#
 
[Verse 2]
G                 D/F#
Let him know that you know best
       Em7          D/F#
Cause after all you do know best
G                  D/F#
  Try to slip past his defense
Em7              D/F#
Without granting innocence
G             D/F#             Em7
   Lay down a list of what is wrong
             D/F#
The things you’ve told him all along
G              D/F#
Pray to God he hears you
      Em7            D/F#
And I pray to God he hears you
 
[Chorus]
    C               D                Em
And where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D                Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G     D/F#    G
Had I known how to save a life
 
[Instrumental]
G   D/F#   Em7   D/F#
 
[Verse 3]
    G            D/F#
As he begins to raise his voice
    Em7             D/F#                 G
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
                 D/F#
Drive until you lose the road
    Em7                        D/F#
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
G             D/F#
   He will do one of two things
Em7              D/F#
He will admit to everything
G                      D/F#
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
     Em7            D/F#
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came
 
[Chorus]
C               D                Em
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D                Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G     D/F#
Had I known how to save a life
 
C               D                Em
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D                Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G     D/F#    G
Had I known how to save a life
 
[Interlude]
D/F#   Em7   D/F#          G
             How to save a life 
D/F#   Em7   D/F#
             How to save a life
 
[Chorus]
C                D                Em
 Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D               Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G     D/F#
Had I known how to save a life
 
C               D                Em
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
            G             D/F#
Somewhere along in the bitterness
    C                   D               Em
And I would have stayed up with you all night
             G*    D/F#*  G
Had I known how to save a life
 
[Outro]
G   D/F#   Em7   D/F#          G
                 How to save a life
D/F#   Em7   D/F#          G
             How to save a life
 
D/F#   Em7   D/F#   G*
 
 
Piano riff that happens periodically throughout the song:
 
e|----------------------|
B|-3-3-3-3----1-0-------|
G|---------2------0-----|
D|----------------------|
A|----------------------|
E|----------------------|
X

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How To Save A Life – The Fray

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"How To Save A Life"

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160 comments

D/F#.. as it is posted (without a minor) is a D with an F# root.. it would look like this.. either with the thumb hitting the low E string on F# or pointer finger... --2------ --3------ --2------ --0------ --0------ --2------

+98

Hey, great job on this tab. The only suggestion I would make is to make two minor changes to the last few lines of the chorus. You have: G D/F# Somewhere along in the bitterness C D Em And I would have stayed up with you all night G D/F# Had I known how to save a life I think it may sound better doing this: D D/F# Somewhere along in the bitterness C D Em And I would have stayed up with you all night G D/F# Em Had I known how to save a life That's just a suggestion. Anyways, great job on it.

+54

On Febuary 25,2007 this song was #2 on the top 100 tabs. Just thought i would let y'all and any future people who look at this know.

+30