The Top 250 Pop Hits of the Last 50 Years - #239 - With Arms Wide Open - Creed

"With Arms Wide Open" is a power ballad 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. The song 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 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". With the song topping the Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts at number one, somehow it nearly did not make it to number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart staying at number two for four consecutive weeks due to the long eleven week stay for 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite at the number one spot and Papa Roach's Last Resort and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication taking over the number one spot leading "With Arms Wide Open" to not hit number one, the song would've hit number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart if it had enough time to do so.

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".

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.

Track Listing[edit]

US Single (18004-2)

1. "With Arms Wide Open (Strings Version)"
2. "With Arms Wide Open (Acoustic Version)"
3. "With Arms Wide Open (Rock Version)"
4. "With Arms Wide Open (Video - Viewable on PC)"

EU Maxi Single (670695 2)

1. "With Arms Wide Open (New Version)"
2. "With Arms Wide Open (Strings Version)"
3. "With Arms Wide Open (Acoustic Version)"
4. "With Arms Wide Open (Album Version)"
5. "With Arms Wide Open (Video - Viewable on PC)"

Australia & New Zealand Maxi Single (670739 2)

1. "With Arms Wide Open (New Version)"
2. "Wash Away Those Years"
3. "One"
4. "With Arms Wide Open (Strings Version)"
5. "With Arms Wide Open (Video - Viewable on PC)"

Chart performance[edit]

Peak positions[edit]

Chart (2000)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	2
US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40	1
US Billboard Mainstream Top 40	1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	1
Canadian RPM Singles Chart	2
Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative Chart	1
German Singles Chart	2
Netherlands Singles Chart	5
Norwegian Singles Chart	6
Swiss Singles Chart	7
UK Singles Chart	3

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (2000)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	36

Covers and parodies[edit]

• Boyce Avenue covered this song and posted on YouTube with the video reaching over 6,300,000 views.
• Staind covered this song.
• Norwegian comedian Kristian Valen recorded a parody of the song, entitled "My Mom's 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 Grohl of the Foo Fighters recorded a humorous cover of the song in which he imitates Scott Stapp's distinctive voice.
• Toby Turner, also known as Tobuscus, made a parody of this song called "Christmas Creed Song" on Christmas of 2013.