With Arms Wide Open

Creed lead singer Scott Stapp wrote the lyric to "With Arms Wide Open" after finding out he was going to be a father. He had a son named Jagger, and later had two more children. In a 2013 Songfacts interview with Stapp, he said of the song: "It continues to have relevant meaning in my life because as I sing it now, I think of my daughter who's now on this planet and alive. And then I think of my newest son, my three-year-old, Daniel. And then I think back to the spirit and the somewhat naiveté, just that brutal honesty that that song expressed as me being a young man and approaching fatherhood for the first time. Now I'm a full-fledged father with a 14-year-old, a daughter who's going to be 7 in June and my youngest, who's 3. So those are still my feelings. And as a human being and as a father, my feelings haven't changed one bit from those that are expressed in that song. Every time I sing it, I can connect with it again and again and again because I'm no longer expressing fears in my thoughts about being a father; I'm a full-fledged living-it-every-day father. So it just rings true to me."

Once he found out that he was going to have a son, Stapp wrote this song because he didn't want his child facing the same problems he faced while growing up. Stapp was from a very strict, very devout Christian household and he didn't want his son to grow up questioning himself and his faith like Scott did. Stapp told Songfacts: "Don't we always want our kids to be better than us? Don't we always want them to have a better experience in this life and this journey than we did? So I think that from my point of view I'm beginning to see why that song struck a chord with multiple generations: because it touches on a feeling and sentiments that are universal for fathers, and for parents in general."

Scott Stapp's songwriting partner in Creed is guitarist Mark Tremonti - they've written all their songs together, typically with Stapp on lyrics and Tremonti handling the music. Those two knew each other in high school together and later connected at Florida State University, where they formed the band. When Creed broke up (for the first time) in 2004, Tremonti formed Alter Bridge with frontman Myles Kennedy and the two other members of Creed: Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips. Creed has had fits and starts, reuniting in 2009 and again in 2024, but Alter Bridge has been more consistent and far more prolific than Creed in their musical output.