Christopher Cross · 1983 · Behind the Songs
After the quiet beauty of “Sailing” and “Think of Laura,” “All Right” feels like a deep breath and a smile.
After the quiet beauty of “Sailing” and “Think of Laura,” “All Right” feels like a deep breath and a smile. It is Christopher Cross at his most optimistic, a song that insists, gently but firmly, that things can get better.
Released on the album Another Page in 1983 and as a single that year, the song was written by Cross. It became a hit with its bright melody, its easy rhythm, and a chorus that feels like encouragement set to music. Where some of his songs look inward, this one looks outward, toward friends, toward love, and toward the future.
The performance is relaxed and confident. Cross sings like a man who has seen hard times and decided, anyway, to be hopeful. The band plays with the same spirit, and the whole record has the feeling of a summer afternoon: warm, unhurried, and full of good will.
It is a useful song to keep close. On a difficult day, “All Right” does not pretend everything is perfect. It simply reminds you that it is all right to keep going, and that, sometimes, that reminder is enough.