- Source: Save Yourself (Stabbing Westward song)
"Save Yourself" is a song by American industrial rock band Stabbing Westward. The song was released as the second single from the band's 1998 album Darkest Days. The track peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks.
Background
In a 2020 interview with Songfacts, lead singer Christopher Hall said:
We had a song on our record called "Sleep," which was a song about a girl who had been molested, and what she did to try and deal with it on a nightly basis. That song touched a lot of people that had similar experiences. They all reached out to me at shows, in letters, and in email, which was just starting to become a thing back then. They all had these tragic stories.
I just felt like everyone was looking to me for some sort of answer, because not only did we have "Sleep," but we had songs about mental illness and depression and dealing with hard times and loss and things like that, and everyone thought that since I had written these songs that I had found the answer. I hadn't. That's what "Save Yourself" is about. I know nothing. I'm right there with you, feeling the same things you're feeling. You have to figure it out for yourself.
At the time, it felt like a selfish song, like, "I can't help you, sorry." But I was trying to help them by saying only you can help yourself.
Music video
The song's music video shows the band performing the song in a rundown house inhabited by strange people.
Track listing
Promo single
EP single
Appearances in other media
The song was featured in the trailers for the films The Mod Squad and Fatal Error in 1999, and The Covenant in 2006.
The song was featured on the soundtracks for Tekken: The Motion Picture in 1998 and Shaun White Snowboarding in 2008.
The song played during the end credits to the True Blood Season 5 finale of the same name.
The song was featured in the 1998 film Urban Legend.
The song was also featured in the 1998 Daria episode, "Ill."
Chart positions
Personnel
Christopher Hall – vocals, guitar
Marcus Eliopulos – guitar
Jim Sellers – bass
Walter Flakus – keyboards
Andy Kubiszewski – drums