With Arms Wide Open
Encyclopedia
"With Arms Wide Open" is a song composed by the band Creed
, featured on the album Human Clay
. Scott Stapp
wrote the lyrics when he found out with great surprise that he was going to be a father. His son would be named Jagger. "With Arms Wide Open" topped the Billboard
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks in July 2000; a month later it reached the U.S. Top 40. In September, it was announced that Creed would release a limited edition single of "With Arms Wide Open" with some profits benefiting Scott Stapp's With Arms Wide Open Foundation to "promote healthy, loving relationships between children and their families". In October, the song hit the top ten and topped Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart for eight weeks. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100
on the issue dated November 11 for one week, and the video topped VH1
's top ten countdown in 2000. In February 2001, Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti
won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
. The song was also nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group
, but lost to U2
for Beautiful Day
.
Three main versions of the song exist. One is the original album version. The second is the radio version, which adds additional hi-hat and drums, and also edits out the ending. The third is the video version (or "Strings Remix") which adds strings to the radio version.
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
, featured on the album Human Clay
Human Clay
Human Clay is the second album by Creed released on September 28, 1999. It was certified 11x platinum and 1x diamond by the RIAA, and is 54th on the top 100 selling albums of all time in the United States . The album was the band's first to hit #1 in the U.S., where it debuted with first week...
. Scott Stapp
Scott Stapp
Scott Alan Stapp is an American musician and singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Creed, of which he is a founding member. His debut solo album, The Great Divide, was released in 2005. A second album, Between Lust and Love, is currently in production...
wrote the lyrics when he found out with great surprise that he was going to be a father. His son would be named Jagger. "With Arms Wide Open" topped the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks in July 2000; a month later it reached the U.S. Top 40. In September, it was announced that Creed would release a limited edition single of "With Arms Wide Open" with some profits benefiting Scott Stapp's With Arms Wide Open Foundation to "promote healthy, loving relationships between children and their families". In October, the song hit the top ten and topped Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart for eight weeks. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on the issue dated November 11 for one week, and the video topped VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's top ten countdown in 2000. In February 2001, Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti
Mark Tremonti
Mark Thomas Tremonti is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the American rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands...
won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
. The song was also nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
, but lost to U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
for Beautiful Day
Beautiful Day
"Beautiful Day" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was released as the album's lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date...
.
Three main versions of the song exist. One is the original album version. The second is the radio version, which adds additional hi-hat and drums, and also edits out the ending. The third is the video version (or "Strings Remix") which adds strings to the radio version.
Music video
The music video for "With Arms Wide Open" shows Scott Stapp alone on a hill during a thunderstorm, before meteors begin to shower down around him. Eventually he enters a tower, and jumps down to a cave below. Finally, he sings the last of the song on the peak of a mountain overlooking the sea. The video is interspersed with footage of the band performing amongst the thunderstorm. It was directed by Dave Meyers.Maxi-Single Track Listing
- "With Arms Wide Open (New Version)"
- "Wash Away Those Years"
- "One"
- "With Arms Wide Open (Strings Version)"
- "With Arms Wide Open (Video - Viewable on PC)"
Peak positions
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop Songs | 1 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
2 |
| Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
1 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | 5 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 7 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 36 |
Covers and parodies
- StaindStaindStaind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For 16 years, the band consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki...
covered this song. - Parodies include "They'll Claw You Open," "When Bars Come Open," "With Blinds Wide Open,"http://www.spaff.com/poesy/with_blinds.html "With Legs Wide Open", and more.
- A parody of the song entitled "With Arms Wide Open (Literal Version)" is featured on YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in which the lyrics and vocals are changed to match the events in the song's music video. - Kentucky native folk-parody duo, Threat Level Midnight, wrote and recorded a reworded version of the song making light of a breast augmentation entitled "Cut Them Wide Open".
- Norwegian comedian Kristian ValenKristian ValenKristian Valen is a comedian, actor, singer and songwriter originally from Stavanger, Norway. Known for an extremely wide range of comedic impressions, Valen has also pursued a serious music career; his pop music album Listen When Alone was released internationally in Europe and Asia...
recorded a parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the song, entitled "My Moms Wide Open". It featured a music video with an elderly woman running around the forest naked. - Christian comedian Tim Hawkins wrote a parody of the song called "My Arms Are Broken."
- Dave GrohlDave GrohlDavid Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
of the Foo FightersFoo FightersFoo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
recorded a humorous cover of the song in which he imitates Scott Stapp's distinctive voice.