“Savior” by Lee Hi (ft. B.I)
Most simply explained, this piece speaks to the concept of falling in love not being all hugs and kisses. Yes, there may be a couple you know here or there who doesn’t have any type of beef whatsoever.
But as generally understood, in terms of the downsides of being in love, being smitten also makes one highly vulnerable to their partner. So if one party and/or the other proves to be a troublemaker, well, let the misery begin. And even though it’s not actually put that way in Savior, Lee Hi does question “is there such a thing as love without despair?”
In other words, she is under the aforementioned impression, that falling in love in and of itself may be preferable, but inevitably she’s going to suffer in one way or another as a result. So even though she may, to some degree, perceive her romantic interest – let’s say B.I in this case – as ‘her savior’, i.e. a Godsend into her life who does in fact ‘make her want to live’, Lee also recognizes that it’s only a matter of time before he ‘ruins her’.
Indeed the way the lyrics read are as if she may have already spotted some type of less-than-favorable characteristic(s) within her beau.
B.I. Steps in
However, B.I comes as being a lot more optimistic. Or let’s put forth that whereas he is also able to understand that “the future is foggy”, i.e. unpredictable, he also apparently believes that he and Lee were meant for each other. So in his case, he appears to be more willing to take the risk than she is.
But alas, who amongst us is able to master the matters of the heart? So at the end of the day this song also speaks to yet another common reality in the world of romance, that despite the risks involved, if two individuals are in fact smitten by each other, then they’re more than likely to take the leap regardless.
Lee Hi, B.I and “Savior”
Lee Hi is a singer from South Korea who has been professionally active since the early 2010s, thus making her one of the more-tenured trending K-poppers at the moment.
As such it can be said she helped propagate the genre to what it has become today. For instance, her debut album, First Love, which was released back in 2013, made it all the way to number 3 on Billboard’s World Albums listing. Also throughout most of her career she’s been signed to YG Entertainment, i.e. the same label that later brought us the likes of Blackpink and iKon.
However Savoir, being the second single from Lee Hi’s third-studio album, 4 Only (2021), is a product of AOMG, i.e. the label the songstress signed with in 2020 shortly after her contract with YG Entertainment ended at the conclusion of 2019.
And to note, as of the issuance of Savior on 3 September 2021, Lee Hi is just a few weeks shy of turning 25 years old.
The featured artist on this song, B.I, is also South Korean, albeit being a rapper. Throughout the 2010s he made a name for himself as part of the aforementioned boy band iKon, even being the official leader of the crew, though deciding to part ways with the clique in 2019.
And he has collaborated with Lee Hi before, on the 2019 track No One, as well as Lee holding him down on one of his own songs, Daydream, earlier in 2021. Additionally, B.I was also involved in the production of Hi’s 2019 mini-album 24°C.
