Absolutely awful number-one songs of the 2000s

3. “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed (2000)

By 2000, rock & roll was largely an afterthought on the pop charts. Now, to be clear, basic hard rock, despite being a dominant force in radio play for several decades, rarely had a commensurate impact on the Billboard charts. But in the ‘60s and ‘70s, plenty of rock songs populated Billboard’s echelons. By 2000, not so much.

Matchbox Twenty’s “Bent” and Creed’s “Arms Wide Open” were the hardest rock songs to make it to the top in 2000. Both are power ballads that didn’t really have to even be rock songs. They just happened to get rock treatments from their bands. “Bent” is a decent ballad. “With Arms Wide Open” is a different matter. The song begins just fine. A soft little guitar riff that could go in several directions.

Unfortunately, the direction it chooses is overwrought pseudo-spiritualism that stays just vague enough to be meaningless. Knowing that Creed was a Christian rock band that rejected the Christian rock label makes this understandable. It just doesn’t really make the lyrics any more meaningful.

But what really makes it more than simply a forgettable power ballad is the utter disconnect between the supposedly uplifting message and Scott Stapp’s gravel road delivery. I will be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of those gravel-voiced grungy baritones that so many people seemed to love back in the day.

I recognize Eddie Vedder’s talent, but I sometimes find his delivery ponderous. Of course, Vedder, Scott Weiland, and even Brad Arnold also could sing some excellent songs. I’m not sure Scott Stapp and Creed ever actually did that. They essentially took everything that was wrong with grunge – the overly earnest lyrics, the ponderous production, and a lurching sense of melody – and married it to generic hard rock.

OK – you know what? “Higher” was pretty good. It was heavy, sure, but it had a sense of effervescence, maybe because you have to be just a little bubbly if you really want to get higher. But “Higher” didn’t get to number one. (And it shouldn’t have.) “With Arms Wide Open” did. And it absolutely, positively shouldn’t have. All things considered, I'' take "Marlins Will Soar." It's shorter.