"Other Arms" is a rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 song performed by English rock singer Robert Plant

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

, the first track from his 1983 album The Principle of Moments

The Principle of Moments

The Principle of Moments is the second solo album by former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant. It was Plant's second top 10 album in the US and UK. It also gave him his first solo Top 40 hit with "Big Log". The most popular track on album-oriented rock radio in the US was "Other Arms", which reached...

. It was Plant's first number-one hit on the 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...

Top Tracks chart.

Details

According to the book What'd I Say: The Atlantic Story, Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 intended to release "Other Arms" as a single, but Plant refused, not wanting to be pigeonholed as a hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 artist. Instead, two slower-tempo songs from The Principle of Moments were released: "Big Log

Big Log

"Big Log" is a song by Robert Plant from his album The Principle of Moments, released in 1983. It was the first single from the album and became his first Top 40 solo hit, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100...

" and "In the Mood

In the Mood (Robert Plant song)

"In the Mood" is a rock song performed by English rock singer Robert Plant, from his 1983 album The Principle of Moments. It was released as a single and entered the Billboard Hot 100 on November 19, 1983, peaking at number 39...

". Both became top-ten hits on the Mainstream Rock chart and top-fifty hits 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...

.
Despite not being released as a single, "Other Arms" became a number-one hit on the Mainstream Rock chart. It reached the number-one spot on August 13, 1983, ending the 9-week chart-topping run of "Every Breath You Take

Every Breath You Take

"Every Breath You Take" is a song by The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting and Andy Summers . The single was one of the biggest hits of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the...

" by The Police

The Police

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...

.

The song was written by Plant and guitarist Robbie Blunt

Robbie Blunt

Robbie Blunt is a rock guitarist who has worked with a variety of bands, most notably Robert Plant's in the 1980s. Since leaving Plant's band in the mid-1980s, Blunt has provided session work for a number of artists, such as Julian Lennon, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Clannad.-w/ Robert...

.
The lyrics do not include the song's title; instead the chorus features the repeated line "lay down your arms".