Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.
Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.
Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).
Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.
Star Search
In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".
Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.
American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."
A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.
Save The Day
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your voice is shaking
The train is coming faster than you thought
And there's no escaping it
And you think that you know
How the end of the story goes
That's a page I rewrote
And I'm taking away the ropes
So keep breathing
I said that I'll always be there
Now I mean it more than ever before
There's a future worth fighting for
So don't be scared
I know how you must be feeling
No one to help you carry the pain
I'm coming to save the day
The hands of the clock are standing still
But your heart is racing
You're losing your grip on the windowsill
Pulled down by the weight of it
And you pray for relief
As you lie on the bathroom floor
As you wait you can see
There's a light underneath the door
This is the day you've been waiting for
So keep breathing
I said that I'll always be there
Now I mean it more than ever before
There's a future worth fighting for
So don't be scared
I know how you must be feeling
No one to help you carry the pain
We're finally breaking
Into the daylight
Feel the warmth of the sun
I will stand by your side
'Till your fear passes on
So just look in my eyes
Baby, try to hold on
And you'll find
It won't be long
So keep breathing
I said that I'll always be there
Now I mean it more than ever before
There's a future worth fighting for
So don't be scared
I know how you must be feeling
No one to help you carry the pain
I'm coming to save the day, yeah
Coming to save the day (there's a future worth fighting for)
Don't be scared
I know how you must be feeling
You know that it won't be long (No one to help you carry the pain)
It won't be long
Tied to the tracks and I hear you call
Your voice is shaking
The song "Save the Day" by David Archuleta is a powerful ballad about being there for a loved one in their darkest moments. The lyrics paint a picture of someone who feels trapped and helpless, tied to the tracks as a train approaches. But despite their fear and bleak outlook, the singer reassures them that they are not alone and that there is hope. The lines "There's more hope than you'll ever know" and "There's a future worth fighting for" are particularly poignant, encouraging the listener to keep pushing even when they feel like giving up.
The song's chorus repeats the phrase "Keep breathing," embodying the idea that sometimes the hardest thing to do in life is simply to keep going. The singer promises to be there for the listener, to help them carry their pain and see them through to the other side. The second verse acknowledges the despair that can grip someone in the midst of a crisis, with the clock standing still and the heart racing. But again, the singer offers hope, pointing out that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and this could be the day they have been waiting for.
Overall, "Save the Day" is a timely reminder that we all have moments when we feel helpless and alone. But with someone to lean on, even the toughest challenges can be overcome. The song is a testament to the power of love, and the importance of being there for the people we care about most.
Line by Line Meaning
Tied to the tracks and I hear you call
You're in a dangerous situation, and I hear you desperate for help
Your voice is shaking
You're frightened and need someone to calm you down
The train is coming faster than you thought
The danger is approaching more quickly than you expected
And there's no escaping it
The situation is dire and there seems to be no way out
And you think that you know how the end of the story goes
You're resigned to a bad outcome and believe the worst will happen
That's a page I rewrote
I'm changing the script and have a new plan to help you
And I'm taking away the ropes
I'm removing the obstacles that are holding you back
There's more hope than you'll ever know
You may not see it yet, but there's a lot of hope for a positive outcome
So keep breathing
Stay calm and focus on your breathing
I said that I'll always be there, now I mean it more than ever before
I promised to be there for you, and I'm more committed than ever to help you
There's a future worth fighting for
You have a life ahead of you that's worth the effort to survive and live well
So don't be scared
Stay strong and don't give up hope
I know how you must be feeling
I understand the intense emotions you're experiencing
No one to help you carry the pain
You feel alone in your suffering, and there's no one to share the burden
We're finally breaking into the daylight
After a long period of darkness, there's finally hope and progress
Feel the warmth of the sun
There's comfort and happiness to be found in the beauty of life
I will stand by your side
I'll be there for you every step of the way
Till your fear passes on
I'll support you until you're no longer crippled by your fear
So just look in my eyes
Find comfort and strength by looking into my eyes
Baby, try to hold on and you'll find it won't be long
Hang in there, and you'll soon see that the suffering won't last forever
Coming to save the day (there's a future worth fighting for)
I'm here to help you and remind you that your life is worth fighting for
You know that it won't be long (No one to help you carry the pain)
I know that you feel alone and helpless, but it won't be forever
It won't be long
This period of struggle will soon be over, and things will get better
Contributed by Amelia O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.