Flashback Friday: "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" - Christopher Cross (1981)

There used to be a time when not YouTube videos, but movies were a main influence on Billboard charts.

A lot of the time, these were sappy love ballads, which I guess resonated with people. But then again, if the music of today is supposed to resonate with people… I fear for our next generation.

Anyway, on the second song of this Flashback Friday*, we’re going to take a look at one of these movie songs, “Best That You Can Do”, otherwise known as “Arthur’s Theme”, as it was featured in the movie Arthur, and that’s most likely why it became popular.

Now when I say “sappy love ballads”, you may take that as a pejorative. After all, we’re all supposed to hate sappy love ballads, right? They’re overdone and over-the-top, and they are the clearest marker of an artist selling out, right? Weeelllll, those all may be subjectively true, and some of the ones I linked above are a bit too sappy for my tastes. But I feel there’s a place for these love ballads in pop music. At least they carry sincerity when they’re done right. Now, I’ve never seen Arthur. But I can still enjoy this song, because it has that sincerity and relatable element in it. Many people are looking for that one true love, caught between the moon and New York City. It’s crazy but it’s true. Someone who turns your heart around…

Okay, so maybe it’s a little cheesy. But ultimately, it’s authentic enough that I can give it a pass. Also, it has a sax solo. Gotta love sax solos.

*Unfortunately, this will change to one current song and one Flashback Friday song a week. The reason behind the two of each this week is that I had a song for each that I already had queued up, and just decided to start off my blog with a bang or two.