Savior (Rise Against song)

"Savior"
Single by Rise Against
from the album Appeal to Reason
Released June 3, 2009
Format Digital single
Recorded January–June 2008 at the Blasting Room, Fort Collins, Colorado
Genre Punk rock
Length 4:02
Label DGC, Interscope
Writer(s) Tim McIlrath
Producer(s) Bill Stevenson, Jason Livermore
Certification Platinum (RIAA)[1]
Rise Against singles chronology
"Grammatizator / Voice of Dissent"
(2009)		 "Savior"
(2009)		 "Help Is on the Way"
(2011)

"Savior" is a song performed by American rock band Rise Against. It appears on their fifth studio album Appeal to Reason. It was released as the album's third single on June 3, 2009.

It is the bands most viewed music video on YouTube with over 40 million views as of 2015.

Appearances

The song is available as downloadable, additional content for the Rock Band series along with "Prayer of the Refugee" and "Re-Education (Through Labor)".[2] Also, in the trailer for the PC game The Sims 3: Ambitions, the song plays in the background in Simlish. It is a playable track in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and is available on Rocksmith 2014.[3]

Music video

On September 8, Rise Against finished[4] shooting a video for "Savior" with director Kevin Kerslake, who directed "Re-Education (Through Labor)", which also appears on Appeal to Reason.[5] It was premiered on MTV2 on September 28. The music video depicts the band playing in a construction site, while numerous people in animal costumes mosh. In between there are scenes of a polar bear riding a bus seeing what looks like animals in homeless situations, such as a lion going through a dumpster, a tiger lying on the steps of a morgue, a group of rabbits standing around a trashcan fire. At the bridge of the song the polar bear sees an elephant limping; in a flashback scene, the elephant is shown violently pushing the polar bear out of the mosh pit, repeatedly. The polar bear then stops the bus, letting the elephant sit next to them. The two hold hands as the song ends. According to the director, the song is about forgiveness, and that the elephant represents the Republican Party, and the polar bear is representative of endangered species.[6]

Rise Against later released a slightly different version of the music video, that focused on the band's performance aspects from the original video in which they play and destroy their instruments at the end of the song.

Charts

The song peaked at number three on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, equalling the peak set by the same album's first single, Re-Education (Through Labor), and set the Billboard Alternative Songs chart record for weeks on the chart at 65 weeks beating 30 Seconds to Mars' The Kill, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's Face Down, Finger Eleven's Paralyzer, and Neon Trees' Animal's records all tying at 52 weeks by 13 weeks. It also peaked at number three on the Rock Songs chart,.[7] It was the #1 on the Rock Songs year-end chart[8] while landing at #2 on the Alternative Songs Best-of-2010.[9] It became the band's second single to reach the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #18. It is also Rise Against's highest charting single on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, peaking at #2 (equivalent to #102 on the Hot 100). Savior is also notable for the extensive amount of time it has spent on the U.S. charts, spending 37 weeks on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, the fourth-highest since the creation of the chart.[10]

Weekly Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 2
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 18
US Billboard Rock Songs[11] 3
US Billboard Alternative Songs[11] 3
US Billboard Heatseekers Songs[11] 7
Billboard Canadian Hot 100[11] 68

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs[12] 2
U.S. Billboard Rock Songs[8] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[13] Platinum 1,000,000*

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "RIAA Search for Rise Against" RIAA.com. Retrieved on September 6, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Games Are Fun—Weekly Round Up 7/27". Game Informer. July 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  3. ↑ http://rocksmith.ubi.com/rocksmith/en-us/music/index.aspx
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/riseagainst/status/3858022326
  5. ↑ "Rise Against To Shoot Video For Savior" tunelab.com. Retrieved on August 15, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Director's Commentary on Savior Music Video" Youtube. com. Retrieved on February 11, 2010
  7. ↑ "Savior - Rise Against". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rock Songs, Best of 2010, 1-5".
  9. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2010/hot-alternative-songs
  10. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/957513/ask-billboard-madonna-vs-lady-gaga
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Savior - Rise Against: Currently Charting" Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  12. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/alternative-songs?year=2010[]
  13. ↑ "American single certifications – Rise Against – Savior". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links