Savior

Album: Appeal To Reason (2008)
Charted: 102
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Savior" is about a couple that have split up, but the guy still loves her and has gone off the rails. The story is told from the guy's point of view looking back over the breakup after he has gotten over her. It indicates he no longer thinks about her and can barely even remember her, yet when he does it occurs to him that he still loves her: "It kills me not to know this but I've all but just forgotten what the color of her eyes were and her scars or how she got them." It's clear he still has feelings for her.

    The chorus could be quotes from a conversation between the couple in the midst of their breakup. She tells him, "I don't hate you boy," which implies she may be trying to comfort him because he has taken it very badly and is becoming very depressed. The line, "I just want to save you while there's still something left to save" is telling us that she still cares about him and she is worried about him because she is scared he may do something drastic like take his own life.
  • In a Songfacts interview with Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath, he said: "'Savior' is a story of love and loss. It's one of those classic tales – a push and pull of a relationship. I wanted to put that in a song and create the Rise Against version of that coming-of-age tale that I think most people can relate to."
  • The video was directed by Kevin Kerslake, who also did Rise Against's "Ready To Fall" from their previous album, The Sufferer & the Witness. He came up with a clever idea for the video: furries in a mosh pit.
  • "Savior" was the third single from the Appeal To Reason album. It was their fifth album, but the one when many fans discovered the band, and it had a very long shelf life. The album was issued in October 2008, but the "Savior" single and didn't come out until June 2009 and the video didn't drop until September. Rise Against managed to stay true to their punk rock roots even after signing to a major label (Geffen; their first release on the label was their third album in 2004, Siren Song of the Counter Culture) and attracting a cadre of new fans.

Comments: 21

  • Percy from Not This UniverseI just got out of a relationship, and it was a soft breakup. Listening to this again, I realized what happened. I tried to comfort her in a spiral (I’m just trying to save you), while she thought I deserved better. We’re still friends, but it really sucks. I don’t want better, I want her.
  • Fionafromleona from Somewhere In The Nebular Andromeda With An Alien Chocolate MilkshakeThis song smacks so hard even after all these years
  • Shannon from CincinnatiI always thought of this song as a relationship song because i related it to a volatile relationship....the reason you stay in a relationship like that is a struggle with yourself. One day i heard it and just knew it-the song-to me was about my alter ego that always wanted to avoid healing and cause chaos and "fun"...
  • Natty from WorldYou can read this song as the voice of a child who's telling their narcissistic parent they are going no contact
  • Chuck from Myrtle Beachthis song hits home... here's my interpretation. He is dumped by the women he loves due to conflict she has in her own thoughts. He tries to let her work through them untill he finally accepts that there is no going back. No mater how much he wants to, or tries to change, he finally realizes that no mater how hard his battle will be, he still won't be able to beat her own battle. So he accepts the inevitable even though it is not what he wants.
  • Bee from JhbMy ex told me me listen to this. He is an addict. It's been over 5 years. I'm married now. And I have a little boy. He still goes round to my mom to tell her he misses me... Too late now.
  • Jazz from HollandI feel like this song is about a relationship where the guy has problems (mentally or addiction does not matter) and the girl loves him, but is having a hard time dealing with his problems: "I don't hate you but I just want to safe you". The guy KNOWS he is not good for her "I love you, girl, but I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have". So they break up. Every time I hear this song it reminds me of the relationship I was in, a relationship like described above.
  • Bdon from ColoradoI feel like it could be about him being on tour all the time and the relationship isn't gonna make it? Like he can't remember her face because he's always gone? 1000 miles away nothing left to say.
  • Joe from OakdaleI thought this was of his dead mother and him recalling how she saved him - similar to the scenario in Hate Me.
  • JdcI always interpret this song from the perspective of losing a love one to suicide (in this case a former girlfriend). "Through the valleys of an aging face
    That this world has forgotten."
  • Tommy from Elmhurst, IlI think its about the guys depression over a mutual break up with a girl he loved very much. He cant remember her but still loves her and cant get over it. Though he loves her and she loves him, but has a lot of work to do to find out who she is in the world but the guy doesnt think he has an answer. the animals represent the emotions the guy has over the break up
  • Cjwyseman from Concord, Ncno no no no no, its about politics. if you watch the video closely you can see a polar bear (an extinct species) getting picked on in a mosh pit by abunch of other animals, one being an elephant (republican party, whom is left wing) and he decides its enough and leaves. on the city transit bus, he sees the elephant limping. he pulls the stop wire and the bus stops. then the elephant comes on board and sits with him. its all about we the people of this "oh so great" nation forgiving our government too much.
  • Claire from Forsyth, GaI noticed that if you have headphones in, at the very beginning of the song, one head phone has the music and singer but the other side only has the singing with no music. It's so cool.
  • Moneer from Sherman Oaks, Ca@Cluster,Alpharetta
    if u were a rise against fan u would know they are straight edge... meaning they dont do drugs, so i guess it could be about an addiction, but not about since they dont really know what addiction to drugs feels like...
  • Col from Augusta, Methis is an awesome song! To me it seems to me that this has to do with a failing LDR (maybe a personal conflict relating to traveling with the band), and the two breaking up. It appears that neither want to.
  • Cluster from Alpharetta, GaTo me it's a song about addiction. He can't remember her due to his substance abuse. The line "There is no reconciliation that will put me in my place" Sounds like part of a 12 step program (making amends).
    Then it becomes his addiction talking to him. A person's addiction always tries to convence them they are loved and ok.
    It becomes a battle between his addiction talking to him and his own mind saying it's wrong.
  • Roxy from Oc, CaI see this song is a completely different point of view. I am probably wrong but these are my thoughts when i listen to it. The man is talking about a women he loved who is dead because of a fatal accident. He is still alive on earth living the seconds away and hating himself and hating everything. "His Mom" or a close person to him who is still alive is telling him they want to help him but his hate is to deep.
  • Ian from Ragama, Sri Lanka (ceylon)It still surprise me how these rock artists put such complex things in to three or four minute songs....

    Still an awesome song..
  • Wiebrecht from Bruges, Belgiumi think he says he loves her but he's not the answer for the questions that she still has because he thinks he is not good enough for her and can't "complete" her requirements
  • Ashley from Port Rowan, Oni totally agree, this song is anamzing and has so much depth and emotion. just wondering though, why he after he tells her that he loves her that he's not the answer for the questions that she still has?
  • Snuckles from San Francisco, Cai couldnt agree more with the site on the meaning. amazing song. SO MAD I MISSED THE CONCERT IN OAKLAND!
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