Arms (song)
Encyclopedia
"Arms" is a song by American singer-songwriter Christina Perri
. The song was written by Perri herself, and serves as the second single from her debut album lovestrong.
. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
at number ninety-four but has failed to chart any higher. The song's accompanying music video debuted on April 28, 2011 on VH1
.
March 15, 2011 and was additionally released in a karaoke
form, the same day as the single release. "Arms" was used in TV spots for the Fall 2011 season of Investigation Discovery's show "Disappeared."
", "Arms" is built around a piano melody. Although the song "packs a little less venom" than Perri's lead single, it still lyrically contains the "crazy" lovesick emotions typically referred to Perri's style of music. The song begins as a slow love song and transgresses into an up-tempo track as kick-drums enter the song midway through. Lyrically, Perri begins the song in a happy tune, singing "I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart / You came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start." More into the song, Perri begins to question the relationship, ultimately finding comfort as she ends the song repeating the hook. "Arms" progresses from a folky ballad to a nicely paced melodic love song, incorporating timpani drums.
Perri described the song in depth, stating "'Arms' is about the fight between your heart and your mind. Your heart wants to be loved but your head is always telling you reasons not to be with him or her, or how you are not worth the love. It's about the struggle and finally giving in when you're wrapped in their arms. Then you get it. Then you feel loved and love wins."
compared the song to that of Ingrid Michaelson
and Natalie Merchant
. Bill Lamb of About.com
included the song in a list of "Top 10 New Pop Songs", "Arms" coming in at number two. Lamb additionally added that the song is "another beautiful ballad." Lamb continued his praise of the song stating, "There should be a strong audience out there waiting for another dose of Christina Perri's distinctive voice this time wrapped around a more upbeat point of view." While reviewing the album, Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly
listed "Arms" as a mandatory download from the album, calling it "chimming". A.D. Amorosi of The Philadelphia Inquirer
enjoyed Perri's hushed voice and changing backup spare arrangement on "Arms". Stating that the song is filled with "dusty gallop of guitar and jangling piano", Chad Grischow of IGN
stated that the song pushes Perri innocent and melodic vocals which makes for one of the better love songs off lovestrong..
on April 28, 2011. The video then appeared all weekend on VH1s "Top 20 Countdown", April 30, May 1 and May 3. The video was added to Perri's official YouTube
account the day following the videos official release.
VH1
stated that conceptually, the video is a "winner", adding that the most enjoyable parts of the video are the vocal close-ups, which allow Perri to sing her song. However, VH1 dismissed the rain sequence of the video as Perri is rescued onto the boat as "particularly necessary", but later complimented the addition of the band as they communicate the song’s emotions powerfully.
Lyric video
Perri revealed a lyric music video for the single as well, released on March 15, 2011. The video was directed by Elliot Sellers, who additionally made lyric videos for others songs release by Perri. The video took over 3,000 photos to make. The entire video is shot behind an old fashioned projector
, were the songs lyrics are projected upon a blank tent-side.
The video has so far, on September 24, 2011, been viewed almost 3,500,000 times on Perri's official YouTube
account.
Christina Perri
Christina Judith Perri is an American singer and songwriter from Philadelphia. Her song "Jar of Hearts" charted in the United States after it was featured on the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. Rolling Stone named her the "Band of the Week" on October 26, 2010...
. The song was written by Perri herself, and serves as the second single from her debut album lovestrong.
Lovestrong.
lovestrong. is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Christina Perri. Following the release of Perri's lead single "Jar of Hearts" and a record deal with Atlantic Records, lovestrong. was released on May 10, 2011....
. The song debuted 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...
at number ninety-four but has failed to chart any higher. The song's accompanying music video debuted on April 28, 2011 on 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...
.
Background
"Arms" was written by Perri with musical arrangements from J. Barrera. The song was released onto iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
March 15, 2011 and was additionally released in a karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
form, the same day as the single release. "Arms" was used in TV spots for the Fall 2011 season of Investigation Discovery's show "Disappeared."
Composition
Like previous single "Jar of HeartsJar of Hearts
"Jar of Hearts" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Christina Perri. The song was released onto iTunes July 27, 2010, a week after its debut on So You Think You Can Dance...
", "Arms" is built around a piano melody. Although the song "packs a little less venom" than Perri's lead single, it still lyrically contains the "crazy" lovesick emotions typically referred to Perri's style of music. The song begins as a slow love song and transgresses into an up-tempo track as kick-drums enter the song midway through. Lyrically, Perri begins the song in a happy tune, singing "I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart / You came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start." More into the song, Perri begins to question the relationship, ultimately finding comfort as she ends the song repeating the hook. "Arms" progresses from a folky ballad to a nicely paced melodic love song, incorporating timpani drums.
Perri described the song in depth, stating "'Arms' is about the fight between your heart and your mind. Your heart wants to be loved but your head is always telling you reasons not to be with him or her, or how you are not worth the love. It's about the struggle and finally giving in when you're wrapped in their arms. Then you get it. Then you feel loved and love wins."
Critical reception
"Arms" garnered generally positive reviews by critics, most of which favored the change in pace for Perri, who took a happier pace with the song. On the day of the songs premier, AOL MusicAOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
compared the song to that of Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson is a New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones, Grey's Anatomy The Big C and One Tree Hill, as well as in Old Navy's Fall 2007 Fair Isle and Opel's/Vauxhall's...
and Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...
. Bill Lamb of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
included the song in a list of "Top 10 New Pop Songs", "Arms" coming in at number two. Lamb additionally added that the song is "another beautiful ballad." Lamb continued his praise of the song stating, "There should be a strong audience out there waiting for another dose of Christina Perri's distinctive voice this time wrapped around a more upbeat point of view." While reviewing the album, Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
listed "Arms" as a mandatory download from the album, calling it "chimming". A.D. Amorosi of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
enjoyed Perri's hushed voice and changing backup spare arrangement on "Arms". Stating that the song is filled with "dusty gallop of guitar and jangling piano", Chad Grischow of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated that the song pushes Perri innocent and melodic vocals which makes for one of the better love songs off lovestrong..
Music video
Perri revealed on her blog that an "epic music video" is coming soon. The music video for the single was shot over a two-day period that Perri described as "a two-day shoot that kicked my ass so hard." Perri had co-written the video treatment herself. Speaking of the concept of the video, Perri stated that she took a physical pummeling as she played a super-hero during the shoot, where she jokingly added "I don’t know why I think I’m an action hero." For the flying scenes, she was involved in weeks of training. The song music video premiered on VH1VH1
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...
on April 28, 2011. The video then appeared all weekend on VH1s "Top 20 Countdown", April 30, May 1 and May 3. The video was added to Perri's official YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
account the day following the videos official release.
Synopsis and reception
The video begins with Perri lying down in a bed with boyfriend John Anderson as she sings the words of the song looking directly into the camera. As the camera zooms out, it shows that the bed is located in a mountain meadow. As Perri closes her eyes to sleep, the video then begins to take on a dream-sequence theme. In her dream, Perri is being carried away in her bed sheets over a body of water where she is dropped. Scenes of Perri bothered as she sleeps are interlaced into the video as it continues. As Perri continues to dream, she emerges from the water into a stormy night and is pulled onto a boat by two unknown men who begin to play instruments to the song's beat. As Perri performs on the boat, a cluster of black balloons wrap a black ribbon around Perri's arm, and carry her away into the sky over London and then over an open field. As Perri approaches the open field, she frees herself from the balloons' ribbon and falls safely onto a BMW Mini. Perri then drives the Mini back to the location of her bed and runs into the arms of Anderson, ending the video.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...
stated that conceptually, the video is a "winner", adding that the most enjoyable parts of the video are the vocal close-ups, which allow Perri to sing her song. However, VH1 dismissed the rain sequence of the video as Perri is rescued onto the boat as "particularly necessary", but later complimented the addition of the band as they communicate the song’s emotions powerfully.
Lyric video
Perri revealed a lyric music video for the single as well, released on March 15, 2011. The video was directed by Elliot Sellers, who additionally made lyric videos for others songs release by Perri. The video took over 3,000 photos to make. The entire video is shot behind an old fashioned projector
Projector
Projector may refer to:*Image projector, a device that projects an image on a surface** Video projector, a device that projects a video signal from computer, home theater system etc.** Movie projector, a device that projects moving pictures from a filmstrip...
, were the songs lyrics are projected upon a blank tent-side.
The video has so far, on September 24, 2011, been viewed almost 3,500,000 times on Perri's official YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
account.
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US 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... |
94 |
| US Adult Pop Songs (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... ) |
13 |