Into My Arms
{{For|the Lemonheads song|Into Your Arms}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Into My Arms
| cover = Into My Arms.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
| album = The Boatman's Call
| B-side = Little Empty Boat
| released = 27 January 1997
| recorded =
| studio = Sarm West, Abbey Road (London, England)
| genre =
| length = 4:15
| label = Mute Records
| writer = Nick Cave
| producer = Flood, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
| prev_title = Henry Lee
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?
| next_year = 1997
}}
"Into My Arms" is a song written by Nick Cave, and released as the first single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' tenth studio album The Boatman's Call in 1997. The single, released on 27 January 1997, was pressed on 7" vinyl, as well as a standard CD single. A promotional music video for the song was also recorded.
Background and history
The song takes the form of a love ballad, with a piano and an electric bass as the sole instruments used. Music journalist and critic Toby Creswell included "Into My Arms" in his book 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them, in which he attributed the song's melancholic lyrics to the break-up of Cave's long-term relationship with Viviane Carneiro and his subsequent brief relationship and break-up with English musician PJ Harvey.{{cite book|first=Toby|last=Creswell|title=1001 Songs : The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|year=2006|isbn=1-74066-331-4}}[http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/countdown/cd_31-40.htm Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time], Triple J, 2009. In Cave's lecture "The Secret Life of the Love Song" to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, he counts the song among those he is most proud of having written.Cave, Nick: [http://www.sfd.at/english/texts/lovesong.pdf The Love Song], Atelierhaus der Akademie der Bildenden Künste, 25 September 1999.
Cave said he wrote the song in rehab: "I was actually walking back from church through the fields, and the tune came into my head, and when I got back to the facility I sat down at the cranky old piano and wrote the melody and chords, then went up to the dormitory, sat on my bed and wrote those lyrics."{{cite book | author= Nick Cave and Sean O'Hagan |title=Faith, Hope and Carnage|year=2022|page=51|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=9780374607371}}
Cave performed the song at the funeral of his friend, INXS singer Michael Hutchence, but requested the cameras recording the service be switched off as he performed.[http://www.michaelhutchence.org/index.php?page=242 Order of Service], Official Michael Hutchence Memorial Website.{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/34997.stm | work=BBC News | title=Celebrities and fans share Hutchence family grief | date=27 November 1997}}
Reception
The song was also nominated for Single of the Year at the 1997 ARIA Awards,[http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=1997 11th Annual ARIA Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222011152/http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=1997 |date=22 December 2007 }}, ARIA, 1997. and came No. 18 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year.[http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/1997.htm Hottest 100 1997], Triple J, 1998. It was No. 84 in the 1998 Hottest 100 of All Time, and No. 36 in the 2009 Hottest 100 of All Time. In 2020, Far Out ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Nick Cave songs,{{cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/nick-cave-bad-seeds-best-songs-of-all-time/|title=Nick Cave’s 20 greatest songs of all time|first=Jack|last=Whatley|website=Far Out|date=September 22, 2020|accessdate=December 6, 2023}} and in 2023, Mojo ranked the song number two on their list of the 30 greatest Nick Cave songs.{{cite web|url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the-mojo-list/nick-caves-30-greatest-songs-ranked/|title=Nick Cave’s 30 Greatest Songs Ranked|website=Mojo|date=November 14, 2023|accessdate=December 6, 2023}}
Music video
The song's music video was directed by British director Jonathan Glazer. In an interview on the DVD The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer, Nick Cave praised the video as well-produced, but said he considered it a poor fit with the song as the video's depressing imagery overrode the melancholic optimism Cave had intended the song to convey.[http://www.palmpictures.com/film/the-work-of-director-jonathan-glazer.php The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014130253/http://www.palmpictures.com/film/the-work-of-director-jonathan-glazer.php |date=14 October 2009 }}, Palm Pictures.[http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/Reviews.asp?ID=7574 The Work of Director-Jonathan Glazer (2005)], MichaelDVD, 7 March 2007.
Covers
The song has been adapted into Greek by songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos. The recording is included on his music album titled "To Xenodocheio" (1997).[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YW4Ag9vHSI "Άδεια μου αγκαλιά", Διονύσης Σαββόπουλος], recording from the "Diesi in Concert" series, 2020.
Track listings
UK CD single (Mute Records, CD MUTE 192)
- "Into My Arms" – 4:15
- "Little Empty Boat" – 4:25
- "Right Now I'm A-Roaming" – 4:21
UK 7-inch single (Mute Records, MUTE 192)
- "Into My Arms" – 4:15
- "Little Empty Boat" – 4:25
Charts
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds|title=Into My Arms|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=18209-2123-1|access-date=8 July 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/bbcfoursessions/nickcave/intomyarms/ Nick Cave performs Into My Arms], BBC Four Sessions (iPlayer)
{{Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds}}
{{Authority control}}