"Throw Your Arms Around Me" is a song by Australian rock bandHunters & Collectors first released as a single in November 1984 by White Label for Mushroom Records. A re-recorded version of the song would later appear on the band's 1986 album Human Frailty. Written by bass guitarist John Archer, keyboardist Geoffrey Crosby, drummerDouglas Falconer, trumpet player Jack Howard, recorder/mixing engineer Robert Miles, vocalist/lead guitarist Mark Seymour and trombone player Michael Waters. The song captures the intensity of sensual love at the same time portraying its fleeting nature with lyrics including "And we may never meet again, So shed your skin and let's get started". In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Throw Your Arms Around Me" was ranked number 19.
Background
had formed in 1981 with Mark Seymour, John Archer, Doug Falconer Geoff Crosby, Greg Perano, Ray Tosti-Guerra, and Robert Miles, their sound engineer and art director. Miles was credited as an equal part of the band's output and stayed with the band throughout their career. Tosti-Guerra was later replaced by Martin Lubran, then by Barry Palmer. Seymour is the older brother of bassist Nick Seymour of Crowded House. Hunters & Collectors signed to White Label, an offshoot of Mushroom Records, and by 1985 the line-up was Seymour, Archer, Falconer, Crosby and Miles with Jack Howard on trumpet and Michael Waters on trombone. They recorded the first version of "Throw Your Arms Around Me" for a single-only release in 1984, with "Unbeliever" as its B-side; all members were credited as the songs' writers. A live version of "Throw Your Arms Around Me" appeared on their 1985 album The Way to Go Out. Their breakthrough commercial success in Australia came in 1986, with the release of the album Human Frailty, which featured another recording of the single "Throw Your Arms Around Me", as well as "Say Goodbye" and "Everything's on Fire". In 1990 a slower, more acoustically introspective version of the single was recorded and released from their compilation album Collected Works. The promotional video was a mosaic of all their previous videos. Mark Seymour described writing for Human Frailty:
Cover versions
A shortened version was performed by Crowded House at their Farewell To The World concert in 1996, and was also earlier covered by the band on MTV Unplugged. The song has also been covered by Australian musical comedy act, Tripod, famous for their work on the Triple J radio Australian network. The song was later covered by Pearl Jam, with the lyric "I will kiss you in four places" changed to "I will kiss you in 155 places" by vocalist Eddie Vedder. Neil Finn attributes this change to Vedder's having heard one of Crowded House's many cover versions of the song before hearing the original. Finn typically changes the number each time he performs it. The comic trio Doug Anthony All Stars performed acoustic versions of this song at many of their performances, and recorded a promotional CD. In 2007 Kate Ceberano recorded a version for her Nine Lime Avenue album. Australian singer-songwriter Hopkinson released a version to radio in 2009 and Canadian musician Allison Crowe recorded the song for release on her 2010 album Spiral. The song was frequently performed in concert by Canadian band Spirit of the West, although they never released a studio cover. Greg Page recorded a version of the song on his album of the same name. In 2013 a cover version Vedder and Finn as a duo appeared on the tribute album, Crucible – The Songs of Hunters & Collectors. A Spanish version of the song titled "Deja Caer Tus Brazos Sobre Mi" was released in 2019 by Melbourne based musician Damián Gaume in collaboration with bassist John Favaro, singer Piru Sáez, drummer Julián Isod and Jack Gaume.
In 1996, the song was used in the Australian soap opera Home and Away during the death scene of popular character, Shane Parrish. It was also used in a climactic scene of the 2008 film Unfinished Sky. In 2018, The song was used in the NRMA commercial.
Track listing
All tracks written by John Archer, Geoffrey Crosby, Douglas Falconer, Jack Howard, Robert Miles, Mark Seymour and Michael Waters, according to APRA.
