A song titled after the phone number of the United States National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, about suicide prevention. After the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards performance the Lifeline reported calls rose by around 50 per cent. The record's entry for a title that was also a working phone number.
A friend told me she had memorised a phone number from a chart song without meaning to. She has since had to unlearn it.
The Lifeline later reported a 5.5 per cent fall in suicides among 10- to 19-year-olds between 1 June 2017 and the 2018 Grammy Awards, where the song was performed again.
The number in the title no longer reaches the service. Since 2022 it has been the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and 988 is the number to use.
What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.
