Open Arms (Journey Song)
"Open Arms" is a popular song originally recorded by American rock band Journey, and released as a single from their 1981 album, Escape. Co-written by band members Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain, the song is a power ballad whose lyrics are an empowering plea to a lover to forgive past wrongdoings and agree to start anew. It is one of the band's most recognizable radio hits and their biggest US Billboard Hot 100 hit, reaching #2 in February 1982 and holding that position for six weeks.
"Open Arms" has been covered by various recording artists. American R&B/pop singer Mariah Carey enjoyed an international hit with the song in 1996; hers is arguably the best-known version of the song in the United Kingdom, where it reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. The song has also been covered by such artists as American singer/songwriter Barry Manilow, R&B group Boyz II Men and Canadian singer Celine Dion. It is a favorite on reality television singing competitions as well, being performed by contestants on American Idol, the UK's The X Factor, and Australian Idol.
Journey's recording of "Open Arms" has been described as one of the greatest love songs ever written; VH1 named the song as the greatest power ballad of all time. Mike DeGagne of Allmusic has described it as "One of rock's most beautiful ballads", which "gleams with an honesty and feel only Steve Perry could muster."
Read more about Open Arms (Journey Song): Journey Version, Mariah Carey Version, Other Cover Versions, Live Cover Performances
Famous quotes containing the words open and/or arms:
“... possibly there is no needful occupation which is wholly unbeautiful. The beauty of work depends upon the way we meet it—whether we arm ourselves each morning to attack it as an enemy that must be vanquished before night comes, or whether we open our eyes with the sunrise to welcome it as an approaching friend who will keep us delightful company all day, and who will make us feel, at evening, that the day was well worth its fatigues.”
—Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
“So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)