Savior

This song is about love, but not in the way that you may think. When looking at Rise Against's other songs, all of them follow the same trend; rarely using "I" or "Me", and almost always using "We" or "Us". This band is very politically based, and exist almost only to relay a message.

In Savior, although words like "I" are used, they are placed and said in a way that makes it more of a group of people. This song suggests being about the government in many places.

"That's when she said I don't hate you boy I just want to save you while there's still something left to save"

Perhaps the government is in a poor state, but instead of revolting, repairing.

The whole first stanza of the song:

"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 As the telling signs of age rain down, a single tear is dropping Through the valleys of an aging face, that this world has forgotten There is no reconciliation that will put me in my place And there is no time like the present, to drink these draining seconds But seldom do these words ring true, when I'm constantly failing you Like walls that we just can't break through, until we disappear"

This can not only show the change of the government, mainly in ideals, but how society is turning inward further and further, avoiding international issues.

well,growing up listening to RA,i think it's ok to say that most songs by them have more than just 1 meaning,depending on the listeners point of view.

I personally think this is a love song though,but it's possible that it has another meaning,i just can't put my finger in it...

anyway,ATR is good as well.I'm just hoping they could mix their hardcore style from RPM and The Unraveling and their melodic style on TSSOCC and The Sufferer & the Witness.

This is a love song, but not "love" as we tend to think of it today. This is speaking in first person as if in a conversation about the relationship between the human race and Mother Nature. To understand this you have to look at everything metaphorically (a single tear = all that nature has left, no time like the present to drink these draining seconds = we must act now to make a change to the way we are impacting the earth before it is too late).

Dissecting the chorus: Tim/the embodiment of the human race understands that because of us, Mother Nature is hurting and he wants it to stop, but he claims not to know what to do to change things. Mother Nature looks at Tim and claims not that it isn't his fault, but that he needs to be saved before we as humans destroy ourselves. Time then replies that our destruction is inevitable; just look at what we have done to Nature - and that was with love.

The second verse is fairly simple: it explains that where we have brought ourselves today makes it nearly impossible to step out of line and try to break free of the cycle because one person can't make the difference alone, the rest of the world will continue to contribute to it's own demise, and describes the painful impact we have left on the earth. "Now do you understand?" is asking Mother Nature if she sees now why it is we can't help her - we hurt her in the first place.

The bridge explains why Tim can't truly help Mother Nature - the world we live in forces us to live the same destructive way as everyone else( with trash piling up - the products we buy, animals continually being slaughtered inhumanely - the food we eat, deforestation - the houses we live in, etc).

"I don't hate you" repeated are Mother Nature's final words as she continues to slowly die, begging us to save her (and ourselves) before it becomes too late.

Every song by Rise Against has meaning to it. They don't care about "love" in the same sense that Hollywood has trained us to understand it, at least not in their music; they look at it from a world perspective. If a Rise Against song doesn't seem like it really means something about the world we live in, look deeper. Gotta love these guys, they are some of the few that really use their artistic abilities to influence a change for the better.

see that what i like about Rise Against they dont always have to be hardcore, i dont know about everyone, but if a band sings about the same thing in every album, i'd be kind of board with them. you cant live your entire life being angry. thus your songs dont always have to be about one single theme. human being go through many emotions. and is okay to express them

Like many RA songs this has many meanings.

Yes literally it can be seen as a love song between a man and a woman.

But a lot of the lyrics elude to a certain type of relationship: the relationship between mankind, and mother nature. When you listen to the song imagine that Tim is singing to mother nature, and the entire song will make sense.

This is a song of a relationship in which mankind wants to do good to mother nature, however, ultimately, it is in his natural to do the opposite.

Guys, they had a video on what the song meant (in the making of their Savior vid). The girl is a polar bear, environmentalism. The elephant is the Republican Party. Now read the lyrics :P

Its about the estranged relationship b/w The Repubs and the cause they once championed, environmentalism.

The following is a decomposition of the song “Savior” by Rise Against off the album “Appeal to Reason.” Please note that the use of the term America refers to moral values that the country was built on as opposed to the land mass, though I do make references to the degradation of the land.

“She”, “woman”, “girl”, all represent the female in general. Terms relation to females do not necessarily equal a human physical being of a girl. Many songs refer to the USA and/or the World as a woman figure. Also, sailors for years have referred to their ship as “she”. We therefore can conclude that “girl” does not necessarily mean a woman.

This leaves options as to what “girl” is referring to: namely America, the World, an actual girl, or the government.

The most literal of these seems to be a girl, yet I doubt this to be validated. Many of the lyrics seem to deal with the other issues as opposed to a love song.

1 It kills me not to know this but I've all but just forgotten 2 What the color of her eyes were and her scars or how she got them 3 As the telling signs of age rain down, a single tear is dropping 4 Through the valleys of an aging face that this world has forgotten

This first stanza definitely does not seem to support the argument that the woman is of a love interest. A logical derived conclusion would be to state that Tim is referring to a mother figure, perhaps in his life, or in general.

9 That's when she said, "I don't hate you boy 10 I just want to save you while there's still something left to save" 11 That's when I told her, "I love you girl 12 But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have"

The chorus seems to support this with “I just want to save you while there’s still something left to save” yet Tim responds to that by saying he is not the answer for questions you still have. It is not a normal archetype of a mother to be asking questions of her son.

We must then move to more abstract meanings looking for stronger meanings. My personal conclusion is that this song refers to either America or the World in general.

Beginning with America, the first stanza (above) seems to definitely support my theory. Eyes could be symbolism for natural things (such as trees, etc.) in the world around us that have been destroyed from the creation of factories and general industrialization of our country. This definitely complies with Rise Against’s message. “…her scars or how she got them”, I believe refers once again to destruction of our country. The next two lines refer to how only “a single tear” is being shed for all of this description. “The valleys of an aging face” refers to the country that “the world has forgotten”. Also, I believe the use of the worlds “the world” disallows the meaning of the song to refer to the planet as a whole.

5 There is no reconciliation that will put me in my place 6 And there is no time like the present to drink these draining seconds 7 But seldom do these words ring true when I'm constantly failing you 8 Like walls that we just can't break through until we disappear

In line 5 (I added numbers myself for ease of use), I believe Tim is stating that the damage has been done, and cannot be reversed. I then think he is making a satirical statement in line 6 that parallels the phrase “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” In line 7, Tim states that the American people have failed America and he continues this in line 8 by implying the moral degradation until the cessation of life.

The chorus, however, is the most proving to my theory.

9 That's when she said, "I don't hate you boy 10 I just want to save you while there's still something left to save" 11 That's when I told her, "I love you girl 12 But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have"

When replacing “she” with America, and “he” with humanity we get:

9 That's when America said, "I don't hate you humanity 10 I just want to save you while there's still something left to save" 11 That's when humanity told her, "I love you America 12 But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have"

He depicts humanity as merely discrediting what “she” is trying to tell him. She offers to save humanity, yet humanity rejects. I think that Rise Against is also trying to depict America, or the girl, being curious about what Humanity will throw at it again.”

13 And the day pressed on like crushing weights for no man does it ever wait 14 Like memories of dying days that deafen us like hurricanes 15 Bathed in flames we held the brand uncurled the fingers in your hand 16 Pressed into the flesh like sand, now do you understand?

This verse, I believe, talks about the pressures on humanity to destroy the earth in order to gain an advantage from a business perspective. Lines 15 and 16, I believe, refer to purposefully destroying the land and moral values. This has an allusion to slavery with the branding of slaves, thus making America slave to humanity.

17 One thousand miles away, there's nothing left to say 18 But so much left that I don't know 19 We never had a choice, this world is too much noise 20 It takes me under, it takes me under once again

This verse shows how humanity acts when shown they are wrong. They make excuses such as “We never had a choice” in line 19. In line 20, it ends the song by talking about taken under.

In conclusion, these are my thoughts on Savior. They might not all be correct but, nonetheless, it is a very good song designed to make us think. I thought, have you?

-Jon LeBoutillier

I also agree with ReDonkUlus. But to me, we don't need to be able to figure out the real meaning of a song. Music is there to inspire us and for us to relate it to our own lives whether or not it is really the same situation that we are in.

It sounds like a younger man falls in love with an older woman. He loves her, and tells her so. She tells him she just wants to save him from his life of self-destruction. They are in two different places, emotionally, then, and he's looking back on it now, from a little ways in the future, and he still loves her.

This song is about a girl trying to save a boy from himself. He keeps pushing her away every time she tries. She is shedding a tear on her aging face. He cannot break down the walls he has built up and constantly is failing her. Nothing she does can put him in his place to recognize the present, he always feels she hates him or is confused.

She tells him constantly almost desperately that she doesn't hate him but he may never listen. This is why she says, "I don't hate you boy, I just want to save you while there's still something left to save."

He says that we never had a chance, this world is too much noise. The world constantly forces him to build his wall up further.

A beautiful song and so relevant. There are so many people out there so trapped in their own walls that they cannot even sustain real relations with people.