"Save Me (Wake Up Call)" is a song by the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

–based

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Unwritten Law Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California by drummer Wade Youman. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes, with Youman the sole remaining original member – however, he has left the group twice in i ...

, released as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the band's 2005 album ''

Here's to the Mourning ''Here's to the Mourning'' is the fifth studio album by United States, American Rock music, rock band Unwritten Law, released in 2005 by Lava Records. Much of the lyrics on the album were co-written by singer/songwriter Aimee Allen. She and sing ...

''. It became the second highest-charting single of the band's career, reaching No. 5 on ''Billboard'''s

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chart.

Background

The song was written by singer Scott Russo along with Aimee Allen, the label didn’t like the chorus that was written, and after working on several different choruses, the label suggested to Russo and Allen that they collaborate with someone to help work on the song, they chose

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, including their 1993 hit " What's Up?". She has since founded two record label ...

, as Russo had stated in an interview at the time:

They offered to get us with
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
and some other people and we were like, “No, no, no, no.” And they’re like, “Linda Perry? You wanna write with her?” We’re like, “Yeah, she’s cool.

It wasn’t a collaboration on the song; we’d already written the song. We came in and she just helped us change a couple chords in the chorus and then just finished the melody with us. So it was more a collaboration with me and my girlfriend and Linda came in and polished up the chorus.

Track listing

Personnel

Band

*Scott Russo –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

*Steve Morris –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

*Rob Brewer –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, backing vocals *Pat "PK" Kim –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Tony Palermo Anthony Joseph Palermo (born November 22, 1969) is an American musician who is the drummer of Californian rock band Papa Roach and is the former drummer of punk rock bands Pulley and Unwritten Law. He was also a touring drummer for Sixx:A.M. ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Additional musicians

*Ben Rosen – programming

Production

*Sean Beavan – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, mixing *

– producer of "Save Me (Wake Up Call)" (with Beavan) *Critter and Zach Barnhorst – engineers *Zach Barnhorst, Jay Groin, James Murray, and Alex Pavlides – assistant engineers *Brain Gardener – mastering

References

{{Unwritten Law 2005 singles Unwritten Law songs Songs written by Linda Perry Music videos directed by Brett Simon Animated music videos 2005 songs Songs written by Aimee Allen