Open Arms (Journey song)

"Open Arms"
Song

"Open Arms" is a song originally recorded by American rock band Journey and written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain, two of the band's members. It is a ballad depicting the struggle of lovers who are trying to reconcile by starting anew with "open arms". It was covered by the American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey and the Korean singer Younha.

Journey version

Journey recorded "Open Arms" for their seventh studio album, Escape, which was produced by Kevin Elson and Mike Stone. Jonathan Cain had begun writing the song while he was still a member of the rock group The Babys, but Babys vocalist John Waite turned down the melody as "sentimental rubbish". Cain eventually finished the song with Steve Perry during the writing sessions for Escape, but it was almost left off the album; Journey's guitarist Neal Schon reportedly "hated" the song (drummer Steve Smith recalls that Schon noted that it "sounds kinda Mary Poppins"), and the other members of the band were against performing ballads. Steve Perry later recalled of the song's recording: "I had to keep my head down on the console when "Open Arms" was on. There is one line in the song that I always wanted to be a certain way. I have ideals about certain things. The line "wanting you near" — I just wanted that line to go up and soar. I wanted it to be heartfelt. Every time it would come by I would just have to keep my head down and try to swallow the lump in my throat. I felt so proud of the song".

During an episode of the radio show In the Studio with Redbeard devoted to the album Escape, Jonathan Cain said he was ill with a bad cold when he recorded the piano track to "Open Arms" and wanted to re-do the track. Everybody else disagreed and they used the track Cain recorded while "under the weather".

"Open Arms" was used on the soundtrack to the animated Canadian film Heavy Metal (released to theatres in August 1981), and it was released as the third single from Escape in January 1982 (see 1982 in music) in the United States. It was also featured on two occasions during scenes of the 1982 film The Last American Virgin.It became one of Journey's biggest singles there, and the most successful of the five singles released from Escape (only one other, "Who's Crying Now", reached the top five). Although it never reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it stayed at number two for six weeks, and it was also a top ten hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The single was less successful on the Mainstream Rock Chart, only reaching the top forty.

The song and its status as a power ballad has been remembered years following its original release. One critic praised "Open Arms" as "a lyrical rock ballad and one of the band's best-written songs", while the Associated Press wrote that the song was "fueled by Perry's operatic, high-flying vocal style". It has also been referred to as a "wedding anthem" (in a December 2005 Lumino Magazine article), and VH1 placed the song at number one on their "25 Greatest Power Ballads" list. All Music Guide said "One of rock's most beautiful ballads, "Open Arms" gleams with an honesty and feel only Steve Perry could muster", and a review of a Journey concert in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution characterised the song as a "classic ballad". Steve Perry told the Boston Globe, "I can't tell you how many times I get a tap on the shoulder and somebody says...'This was my prom song'". The song was later included on Journey's box set Time 3 (1992) and the compilation album The Essential Journey (2001).

In 2003 American Idol contestant Clay Aiken performed the song during a key semi-final round of the show, and later in a duet with fellow Idol Kelly Clarkson (the winner from the previous year) on their joint February—April 2004 concert tour. The song was also chosen for third place American Idol 5 contestant Elliott Yamin by Clive Davis before being eliminated. "Open Arms" was included on the set list for Britney Spears' 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour, and it was also used as the love theme for Japanese director Eiichiro Hasumi's film Umizaru (2004). Hasumi said that he wanted to call to mind a high school romance with the song's inclusion, and the film's screenwriter reportedly listened to it several times whilst writing the film. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the animated television comedy South Park, frequently reference and parody Journey and their music in their work. In Episode 909 of South Park, entitled "Erection Day" (2005), a little girl playing piano in a talent competition begins to sing the opening to "Open Arms" ("Lying beside you, here in the dark...") before the scene ends. In the 2007 film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry they are at a party and when they come up to dance they do a slow dance. When they start the DJ plays this song.

Mariah Carey version

"Open Arms"
Song

Mariah Carey co-produced her cover of the song with Walter Afanasieff for her fifth album, Daydream. Carey's career has crossed paths with Journey's: the band's drummer Steve Smith played drums on many of her earlier singles, and its bassist for a short period in the mid-1980s, Randy Jackson, has worked with her for a long time.

It was released as the album's third single in 1996 (see 1996 in music) in most markets outside the United States, and performed moderately. It became a top five hit in the United Kingdom and was popular in the Philippines, where it competed directly with Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" (the preceding single from Daydream) and both songs topped the charts of numerous radio stations. It did not reach the top ten elsewhere. The single's video, directed by Larry Jordan, is a live performance of the song by Carey at Madison Square Garden. The video for the Spanish version of the song, "El Amor Que Soñé", is also a live performance from that night.

A UK CD single for "Open Arms" included the Daydream track "I Am Free" and live versions of "Fantasy" and "Vision of Love" (1990). Another version of the CD single comprised the album cuts of "Hero" (1993) and "Without You" (1994), and a radio edit of "I'll Be There" (1992). It sold 700,000 copies.

Charts

Journey version

Chart (1982)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Pop Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart	7
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart	35

Mariah Carey version

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	27
France Top 100 Singles	29
Germany Singles Chart	65
Israel Singles Chart	4
Switzerland Top 100 Singles	30
UK Singles Chart	4

References

• Unknown (1992). "Open Arms". In Time 3 [CD liner notes]. United States: Columbia Records.