Christopher Cross · 1981 · Behind the Songs
Some songs belong so completely to a film that it is hard to imagine one without the other.
Some songs belong so completely to a film that it is hard to imagine one without the other. “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” is one of them. Written for the 1981 film Arthur, it captures the movie’s bittersweet charm in a single, graceful melody: funny, romantic, and a little bit sad, all at once.
Released as a single in 1981, the song was written by Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen. It became a number one hit in the United States and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. That success was no accident. The song has the polish of Bacharach’s writing, the warmth of Cross’s voice, and a lyric that speaks plainly about love and about doing your best, even when your best is imperfect.
What makes the record special is its tone. It never becomes sentimental, and it never becomes cynical. It floats, much like its hero, between comedy and tenderness, and Cross sings it with a lightness that keeps the whole thing from tipping over into sadness. It is a song about a man who has everything except the one thing that matters, and it understands that contradiction perfectly.
Hear it today and the film comes back in a rush: New York, laughter, and a love story that is more serious than it first appears. That is the power of a great movie song. It does not just accompany the story. It becomes part of it.