Can Bands Truly Save Lives?

They can give you courage/hope/dreams.
I know I made a deal with myself earlier back in my more depressed part of life that I have to see them live before I die. That was about one-two years ago, and since then to now I've actually found more goals I want to achieve. Eg: Complete school, go to uni.... etc. So I'm fine. :) By a heap.
(And i'm seeing them next year! x3)

I don't want to say yes or no because music is different for everyone and who am I to judge what has saved someone's life or made them think twice about ending it? I think the idea in itself is a little farfetched but I always see people on Tumblr and on Mibba claiming that they were hanging on by a thread but that some band, some song, made them think again. So I don't know. I think music just makes life better but if I wanted to kill myself, a song wouldn't stop me.

As others have said. I do not believe a band can physically save you, but the emotions it reinforces in you as well as how it affects your mentality may make you save yourself or keep hanging on.

I have songs precious to me for their reasons, but they have never physically saved my life. I just think you get the notion in your head to save yourself because you believe that the song helps or it understands how you feel or something like that.. o.o

Reassurance and motivation that you are not alone, even if you feel like that.

Physically, no. A band wasn't there to stop me putting blade to skin. But through song and lyrics, they helped me to be stronger.

Yes.
A band saved mine.
I owe them everything <3

I'm sorry I'm such a bitch, but no. Even if these guys do love the collective of their fans as a whole, they do now give a rat's ass about YOU in particular. Like, this one time Joe Jonas tweeted me back and it was sweet, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't give two shits about me. At all.

Maybe music can make one feel better, inspire people and all, but saying a band saved your life is taking credit away from yourself and anyone who might have actually done something real for you.

I'm sorry, I just think it's silly to rely on someone who will probably never know you so much as exist. I mean, I love me some SHINee and those Asian idiots make me laugh when I feel like shit, but Minho doesn't buy me food, Taemin doesn't help me with the chores, Jonghyun doesn't pay my bills... Catch ma drift?

I used to say that Pierce The Veil saved my life, but before that I also once said Simple Plan did and after that I said Sleeping With Sirens did, also this guy called Reese Mastin who won 2011 Australian XFactor had 'a big impact on me and made me really happy for once' but then, i realized I was being a fool. I'm not saying that music doesn't save lives but I've said it about every band that has helped me move on a bit in a better direction which makes me sound like a bit of an idiot, i know, but it adds up to my current mindset which is that they dont save you, you save yourself because of the influences and Im pretty darn sure that K-Pop has saved me in the fact that thanks to their uplifting music and everything I am a happier person indeed. With listening to all those bands, I kind of became more depressed because the words really got to me and I kept a hold of them since I'd listen to those bands religiously but now, no.

I saved myself. I've only been influenced.

Saving doesn't always need to be physical. I don't really like the idea that something should only be considered saving if something is physically done. Sometimes, mentally or emotionally is just as important as physical and can help save someone. Though I do think people should give themselves the most credit. I do believe bands can inspire people to keep trying and help lift them back onto their feet but in the end, you are the one who made the choice. You need to give yourself credit for that, because you deserve more credit than you probably think.

So I do think bands can save lives, in an emotional sense. They can give people courage. They can inspire people. They can help lift people back onto their feet and convince them to continue trying. In the end, it is the individual who chooses to do all this and should get the most credit, but a band can be credited for helping give them hope again.

If we mean saving as physically taking the razor, pills, gun, etc., away from you, then no, most of the time bands can't do that.

But sometimes, bands can save people emotionally. They can give people hope and courage and their music can make people feel understood and like the burden of their pain is being shared. So yeah, it's technically you who made the choice to not hurt yourself, but sometimes a band save you from having those thoughts in the first place.

I believe a band's lyrics can save lives because of hopeful words and encouragement, but otherwise no not really. I mean, no band has ever had that kind of effect on me but I guess for some people they might.

this may sound weird and stupid but i think they can.. i was depressed for a very long time and one day i was listening to avenged sevenfold and it was like they where talking to me through their songs.. telling me to live my life... and now everytime i listen to avenged sevenfold it's like they are still telling me to live my life and not give up.. and i haven't and i'm not depressed anymore.. i thank avenged sevenfold for that..
that may sound stupid and maybe it is but to me A7X did save my life.. okay maybe their songs inspired me to not give up but without A7X then those songs wouldn't have been able to inspire me so yes i believe that bands can save lives because all i know is that if it weren't for A7X music i wouldn't be here.. that's my opinion anyway x

Yes they do, because if your in a shity mood and are pissed as shit and hate the world but then you turn on a surtan band and you either realize your not the only fucked up person or your mood slowly gos away as you jam to your band...or you know the worst happens and its a song that's just like 'yeah imma kill myself to this song.' Then they put it on repeat

Yes. Any form of inspiration that comes from hobbies like music/reading/exercise/etc. has the power to make a person feel motivated to be alive and feel purposeful. I wouldn't say that "saving lives" most of the time means encouraging a person to not go through with suicide, but music definitely helps people get to a better place in their lives by allowing them to express themselves and feel supported. It even allows a person to find a new community of people who share the same musical interests as them. I know that as a pre-teen, music transformed my identity. I wasn't contemplating suicide, but it did alter who I was and result in my personality now, which has a lot to do with saving my life in the sense that it helped me move forward.

I have mixed opinions on this...
Physically, no. And these guys, they don't know you exist. I think most of the sweet things bands do are largely related to some type of PR movement...
Think about it, if you think the guys in the band are really sweet then you're going to support them more than you would if they were dicks.. That's not to say their heart isn't in it though. I do believe some bands do care. But their caring is not aimed at you in general, it's at all of their fans.

Now, on another hand, I used to say My Chemical Romance saved my life. They didn't physically stop me from doing anything to harm myself, but at a time in my life where I was so depressed even smiling hurt, they helped me. For me, a lot of my depression was linked to feeling like a weird fuck up. I felt like I could never do anything with my life, no one would ever love me... whatever. And then this band came along and the message was: you might be a weird fuck up, but here are 5 guys who are just like you and guess what? We made it. And we're doing just fine.

And *THAT* is what saved me.

I needed faith and they gave it to me, whether it was aimed at me or not.

So yes and no.

Did they save me? No. I saved myself. But they helped me find that faith in myself to actually want to save me.

I think everyone is being too literal with the word "save". Another meaning of save is to be kept from being lost. When I say bands save my life, I don't mean from death, because I am never in that sort of danger. I mean that they save my sanity, they keep me from losing myself. At my lowest point, almost one and a half years ago, I could barely trust anyone - and I still do have trust issues. I turned to music to help me, and it did. It was my constant - and still is.

Bands and music have saved my life, but not in such a literal sense. Well, I guess it is literal, just not in the same meaning as most people jump to.

@ sheepcat;
Eh, six years ago when this was a much bigger "thing" than it is now, the people were claiming the bands "literally" saved their life. Very common of bands like, My Chemical Romance, for example.

Anything can save someone's life. Anything can inspire someone to stay alive. Anything can make someone feel better about themselves or make them feel validated.

'Saving' doesn't necessarily mean that someone is being physically rescued from death. It can mean that it prevented that person from having a shitty life, or going down the wrong path, or feeling like shit about themselves.

Getting into certain bands improved my life and saved me from leading a dull, boring, angry life in which I felt alone and confused, and tons of songs have actually made me decide against trying to kill myself. One I can distinctly remember, as obvious/silly as it sounds, would be Miss World by Hole. I was suicidal as fuck one night and I listened to it and I just cried my eyes out and it made me decide not to kill myself.

A band can't actually take the weapons or pill bottle from your hands, but you can hear a lyric in a song and it makes you stop. When you're at the bottom of the world you just stop, and listen to a voice that tells you exactly what you're feeling, and the hope cane make you drop everything and rethink everything. They aren't there to pull a gun away from your head, but they can give a reason to keep going.

Music has such an immense influence in our choices and outlook on things. I personally believe that bands happen to help and affect so many people — who are lost within their own sadness — because most of the band members playing the instruments, writing the lyrics and giving their heart out on stage have gone through similar experiences.

They have dealt with anger, sadness, depression, suicidal thoughts, bullying, self-harm, eating disorders and so many other awful problems modern teenagers go through. They understand what their fans go or have been through and that's why their lyrics make a bigger impact in our lives, because it comes from a similar perspective.

The fact that they have managed to make their passion an instrument to show others out there, who are suffering just as they were one day, already tells people that they can make out of whatever situation they're in. It tells them that they have the strength to pull themselves up and walk towards a greater life.

And that's why bands save lives. They provide a salvation to our heart and mind, helping us with each song to overcome our fears. These bands gives us the support that friends and family cannot. It's a type of support that awakens the motivation to live life to the fullest within us.

I don't think they can 'save' you, necessarily. They can give you hope and perhaps make a person happier, though. I don't go as far as to say they saved my life, but when I was down, listening to Cinema Bizarre definitely brought me up. To this day, listening to my favorite band brings a smile to my face.