A Heart Within?

“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired,” as Robert Frost once said. Love is an awesome topic to explore due to it causing happiness, sorrow, and some emotions quite indescribable. Rise Against’s Savior definitely illustrates the power of love and how it can affect one’s feelings and thoughts through the use of figurative language, symbolism (within the music video), and pace. This astounding melody is an excellent source of metaphors and imagery to the profound affect behind the controversial lyrics.

The whole introduction to the song is an absolutely beautiful metaphor, as Rise against believes “[Forgetting] what the color of her eyes were” would “Kill [him]” Obviously the band exaggerates this a bit too much, however this completely conveys how–as some peers may say–“Crazy” he is for her. Another metaphor can be examined in the first verse; where “there is no time like the present, to drink these draining seconds.” This is a fine choice of words depicting how every moment with her is a well spent blessing, and a time he will never forget. As well as the metaphors already listed, there are many other forms of figurative language, such as imagery, in the introduction. As, stated before the introduction has many metaphors, which with the powerful adjectives and other words creates the biggest image: the Introduction. “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.” It’s amazing how well our minds interpret these words into a motion-picture which further help us understand how her tears mean nothing as everyone, including him, are starting to forget her.

Somehow, although connected to love–the music video has little to nothing to do about love (well, at least the main story). The video is mostly political and concerns animals, as the main symbols are the polar bear and elephant; whereas the elephant represents the Republican Party and the polar bear represents itself, an endangered bear. It begins with the bear on a bus reflecting on past events earlier that day–most notably the “mosh pit” of endangered animals. Here, the polar bear leaves as the elephant pushes him out symbolizing how the Republican Party is doing little to help endangered animals. However, towards the end (back from the flashback on the bus), the bear notices the elephant out the window as he is limping along the sidewalk. He pauses, thinks, and finally decides to stop the bus and pulls the rope in order to pick him up. They forgive each other and hold hands in an attempt to get the Republican Party’s attention and showing how better off “loving” one another is better than ignorance and bitterness. It is not too late to start, just as the elephant learned to “love” the bear, so can the Republican Party—

The changes in the pace of Savior definitely play a key role in the way it affects its listeners. It starts off in a moderate pace in the beginning, and shifts down to a slower one towards the bridge of the song. Then after, the small slow section, it speeds up to a faster tempo. This melodic change in speed kind-of defines how listeners feel during the different parts of the song. It starts at a moderate pace to slowly bring the listener into the song, and slows down for a little crash in emotion. It then brings the reader right back up into a fast pace in a sort of all-out release of feelings meant to be portrayed in the song. Coupled with the events in the music video, the listener will definitely feel a sort of enlightenment on the underlying message of the songs’ figurative colorful lyrics, that depending on how love is set, It can lead to a beautiful dream or harsh nightmare.

Most people view love as a gift, others a curse…in reality it’s both (as sad as it is). One day love will make you happy; the other day an unforgettable scar. Savior conveys a strong message of the necessity to change the absence of acceptance and forgiveness in the world today, along with love. People, communities, and even entire nations are not alone in this absence; and the world of the future will end up paying for it. The need for “swords” to be turned into “plowshares” has never been so dire; the figurative events portrayed in the music video of Savior may soon cease to be an ominous portrayal of the future and become more of a reality than they already are, if the world continues on its current path to oblivion. “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and let it come back in.”