The Fray

The Fray is a Denver-based rock group best known for their singles "Over My Head (Cable Car)" "How To Save A Life" and their piano-rock style of music.

The current members are:

• Isaac Slade: lead vocals, piano/keyboard
• David "Dave" Welsh: lead guitar
• Joe King: guitar, backing vocals
• Ben Wysocki: drums, percussion

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The Fray provides examples of the following tropes:

• Angsty Surviving Twin: The main character of "Run For Your Life" is one.
• Berlin Wall:
  • Referenced in "Hundred"
  • More obvious in "1961", where it's used as a metaphor for walls we build up to not let people in.
• Crowd Song: "All At Once" references a crowd bursting into song.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • A number of songs seem to be written from the wrong side. Examples include "Trust Me," "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "You Found Me."
  • "How To Save A Life" has someone else going over this.
  • "Run For Your Life" is about a girl with a dead twin sister and trying to keep her from crossing it.
• Disappeared Dad: The father in "Enough for now", who "left my mother's mother without so much as a kiss", and while it's unclear exactly what happened the first verse says he's "no longer with us" and later lyrics suggest he's dead.
• Driven to Suicide: It appears that "How To Save a Life" is a song about someone who was driven to killing themselves.
• Grief Song: "How To Save A Life" is about being unable to save someone from themselves, though it's officially open to interpretation.
• Hikikomori: "Little House" seems to be about one.
• "I Want" Song: "She Is"

She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted, she is everything I want that I never knew I needed

• • "Without Reason" from the Reason EP is another.
• Not Christian Rock: A special example since all the members are Christians and their songs tend to feature some very spiritual imagery. Although they've decided to brand themselves as a secular band in an attempt to reach out to a wider audience, some of their songs are still played on Christian radio.
• Rage Against the Heavens: "You Found Me" is addressed to God with the question "Where were you?" Also a bit of Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter! involved. Fairly mild, though, given that Isaac Slade is a Christian. Note that, even if He was "just a little late," God showed up anyway, and although the song is very emotional, it does have a slight air of gratefulness.
• Rags to Royalty: In 2006 Isaac Slade was named heir to the estate of Sir Baron Benjamin Slade, a distant cousin of his.
• Self-Titled Album: Oddly enough, their second album was this.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: "Trust Me" plays around with this; the speaker seems sad that the addressee will understand "when you're older," but equally despairing at the idea that they never might.
• Train Station Goodbye: "Vienna"
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?: "Enough For Now" is about a man who wanted a son to inherit his name, but had a daughter instead. The lyrics suggest that it's about the grandfather of a band member.