This Song Saved My Life

“I was broken 
I was choking
I was lost
this song saved my life
I was bleeding stopped believing
could have died
this song saved my life
I was down
I was drowning
but it came on just in time
this song saved my life”

This Song Saved My Life – Simple Plan

At first listen Simple Plan songs seem nothing more than a bunch of Canadians having a whine about how hard life is. And generally, this is the truth for majority of their songs. But as I blogged about last week Simple Plan manage to hit the note with a few of their songs and go places where no other lyrics have quite gone yet. Previously I talked about how happy I was many years ago when I heard a band finally say I’m not perfect. This week, I’ve picked out another Simple Plan song which says what hasn’t yet been said as blatantly as above: music has the ability to save our lives.

This song was written for Simple Plan fans after the band received numerous messages that their songs had touched the listeners and not only changed, but saved their lives. Without doubt it is possible to connect so intensely with a song it pulls a listener out of their dark patch. Music may not cure complicated personal problems, but music does show there are others out there suffering the same problems and things will be okay. And music inspires us to lead better lives and seek change, thus saving what could have been a mediocre life experience into a worthwhile change. Below is the video for This Song Saved My Life which depicts the awful lives of slavery some people are forced into, but by sharing this story Simple Plan have, hopefully, influenced people to save a life.

While researching this blog I came across Music Saves Lives. They are a charity who’ve realised there is a connection between young people wanting to make a change and the inspiration which music can bring, and fused the ideas together. They educate society about the importance of blood donation and transfusion in a way which speaks to people from all walks of society. This isn’t the only way in which music has been used as a fundraising medium. From charity songs – my favourite still being Feel Inside by Flight of the Conchords – through to music festivals which raise money and awareness, music is, all around us, helping benefit people to lead a better life.

I’ve thought about writing this blog for a long time now, and I held off until I was sure I could successfully write about this song. It’s a risky area to talk about the themes in this song, particularly the parts which touch of depression and suicide, and it’s a song which means a lot to me. I thought this blog would be more sombre as I touched on these topics, but instead I feel more at peace than when I started, as though the thought of knowing there is always a way to be pulled from dark spaces and inspired is incredibly satisfying – and life saving.   

This is the video depicting slavery

And the official music video