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"Open Arms" is a song by American rock band Journey. It was 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 number two in February 1982 and holding that position for six weeks (behind "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts). "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, K-pop boy group EXO (band) and Canadian singer Celine Dion. It is a favorite on reality television singing competitions as well, being performed by contestants on US shows ''The Voice'' and ''American Idol'', and overseas on 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;〔"100 Greatest Love Songs". VH1. 2003. #4.〕〔("112 Greatest love songs, ever!" ). ''Blender''. #5.〕 VH1 named the song as the greatest power ballad of all time.〔("25 Greatest Power Ballads" ). Ep. 073. VH1. Retrieved April 22, 2011.〕 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."〔(Journey: ''Escape'' ). AllMusic. Retrieved April 16, 2012.〕 ==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 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'', changing the key from A to D and changing the melody slightly,〔VH1 - Behind the Music - Journey〕 but it was almost left off the album; Journey's guitarist Neal Schon reportedly disliked the song because "it was so far removed from anything () had ever attempted to record before".〔 Drummer Steve Smith recalls that Schon noted that it "sounds kinda Mary Poppins",〔 added to which the other members of the band were against the idea of performing ballads.〔(travel media shopping computers hardware at steveperry-thejourneybeyond.com )〕 In 2005 Perry commented on the emotions he felt while producing ''Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour'' and listening to the band performing the song 24 years previously: "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".〔()〕 In the Journey episode of VH1's ''Behind the Music'', Perry recalls the recording sessions for the song becoming an ordeal; Schon taunted Perry and Cain in the studio. But when the band performed it in concert for the first time during their Escape Tour in the fall of 1981, the audience was thunderstruck, much to Schon's disbelief. After two encores, the band left the stage and Schon suddenly said, "Man, that song really kicked ass!" Perry recalled being incensed at Schon's hypocrisy. "I looked at him, and I wanted to kill him," he later said.〔 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 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). It stayed at #2 for six weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, kept from the #1 spot by "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and it was also a top ten hit on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. The single was less successful on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, 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 1 on their "25 Greatest Power Ballads" list. Allmusic said "One of rock's most beautiful ballads, "Open Arms" gleams with an honesty and feel only Steve Perry could muster,"〔(allmusic ((( Escape > Review ))) )〕 and a review of a Journey concert in the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' characterized 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 ''Time3'' (1992) and the compilation album ''The Essential Journey'' (2001). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Open Arms (Journey song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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