Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.
A man with the voice of an angel sings of someone caught between the moon and New York City. It’s easy to imagine a liminal paradise between those two places; perhaps that’s where the angelic narrator resides, watching over the story he tells. He’s not just recounting events; he may be guiding them, placing redemption in the path of a lost soul, for potential entry into Heaven.
The film Arthur isn’t overtly religious. A key scene takes place at a (potential) church wedding, but it leans more into WASP tradition than spiritual reverence. Still, the theme is unmistakably one of redemption. A man who believes himself unlovable—and thus incapable of loving or respecting others—discovers that he is, in fact, loved. That revelation opens a new world to him, one where he can appreciate others and begin a positive transformation in him. If not religious, the story certainly feels like the product of extended time in therapy.
The 1982 Oscars marked a transitional moment for music in film. MTV had launched but hadn’t yet become the cultural juggernaut it would soon be. Studios were beginning to understand the power of three-minute musical trailers on heavy rotation, but the films of 1981 hadn’t fully embraced this strategy. The rest of the decade would see an unprecedented run of Oscar-winning songs—catchy, emotionally resonant, and perfectly crafted to sell their films. Until Disney’s later dominance in the category, the ‘80s produced some of the finest songs ever to win the award.
“Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” the 1982 Best Original Song winner, is a masterpiece. It connects to the film and features clips in its video, but it’s more than just a musical summary. Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager wrote most of it, incorporating a phrase from a song Sager had been working on with Peter Allen. Allen, once stranded in the JFK airport stack, coined the line about being “caught between the moon and New York City,” and wanted it immortalized.
Christopher Cross completed the music and lyrics, bringing his extraordinary high tenor to the performance. His voice—part natural gift, part refined craft—is a remarkable instrument. At times, the narrator’s tone edges toward judgment, but Cross delivers it with such finesse that it never feels harsh or editorializing. More in sorrow than anger. The chord progressions are from the jazz world.
In the film, Arthur Bach is a gifted musician, though his talent is obscured by the chaos of his life. Dudley Moore, who portrayed Arthur, was himself a brilliant musical talent, leading bands on his piano and producing a very entertaining guide to the orchestra. A rounded man. But he is best known in the UK for his scabrous collaborations with his friend Peter Cook, and in the US for his light comedy movies. He may have identified with Arthur as misunderstood.
Moore performed the song with Cross on several occasions. In Night of 100 Stars, Moore appears to eye Cross with a mix of admiration and unease—perhaps envy, perhaps nerves. Cross returns the look with equal uncertainty. Was Moore simply anxious not to let his collaborator down? Or was the green-eyed monster peeking through? Had they fallen out earlier in the day? Moore was a complex man who put his heart and soul into the movie. Cross and the songwriting team won an Oscar, as did Moore’s acting “support,” Sir John Gielgud, on his own brilliant journey to achieving EGOT status.
Covers of the song take various approaches. Both men and women step into the narrator’s role, recounting Arthur’s journey to love, from a distance. Some women reinterpret the lyrics from the perspective of Arthur’s love interest, subtly shifting the story. These versions often soften the judgmental tone, reflecting a more forgiving view—perhaps because they haven’t yet seen Arthur at his worst, or because they love him despite it.
There are no obvious gender-swapped versions, where a dissolute woman is rescued by a lover. Perhaps we know that a woman who has reached middle-aged dissipation would not still be a candidate for the family fortune. Different standards apply there, still. Disappointingly, also, there seems to be no version where a man’s romantic love redeems Arthur—a missed opportunity.
Replicating Cross’s voice and delivery is no easy feat, and some that try to do so wind up failing. Others mistake subtlety for blandness, and record that error, or feel that the song needs more “personality” than the best versions. But these Five Covers featured here each bring something unique—thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed.
Lena Martell – Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross cover)
Martell is familiar with New York, from her time as understudy to Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl on Broadway. But her home and heart are in her native Scotland. There are some named Arthur but there are many, many more men in need of redemptive love in Glasgow. There is also not a $750M fortune at the end of the road for success. Martell captures all of that doubt. She is measured in her enthusiasm for her new beau. Never knowingly under-melisma’d, her band also sprinkles in some additional aspects of American culture, such as a steel guitar and jazz riffs, that she picked up on her travels.
Akiko Tsuruga Quartet – Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross cover)
Dudley Moore’s jazz trio did not include a Hammond organist, but you feel sure that he would have appreciated this confident, sure-footed, version of the song from Tsuruga and her quartet, including Jimmy Cobb, the drummer from Miles Davis’ first great sextet and the Kind of Blue album.
Georgie Smit – Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross cover)
When you listen to a lot of covers of this song, you get a lot from the introduction. Pace, register and tone give you a sense of what is coming. Smit bravely comes in straight with the vocals, which is a bold, but justifiable, decision. The precision and subtlety in her delivery is astonishing, capturing the story without missing any of the details. The way that she delivers a key phrase tells three different stories with a slight shift of intonation, demonstrates a mastery of storytelling in vocals. I know it’s crazy, but it’s true.
Graham Bickley, Mary Carewe, Alison Jiear and Sarah Lark and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Conductor and Arranger -Richard Balcombe – Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross cover)
If you were going to inherit a $750M fortune, perhaps an intervention by your friends (or hangers-on) could be more grand. Conductor and Arranger Richard Balcombe has toured his Burt Bacharach show around the UK, drilling orchestras to deliver the music with a touring band of singers. In contrast to the low-key nature of some of the versions, this is lush and warm, as well as exquisitely delivered.
Ute Lemper – Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross cover)
In contrast to Smit and Martell, Musical Theatre legend Ute Lemper has no doubts about how well her new relationship with Arthur is going to turn out. There is no real sense that she even wants to redeem him. She really likes him the way he is, and she’s contemptuous of those that want him to be something else. Listen to how she delivers “laughing about the way they want HIM to be.” She knows it is going to be a fun journey. Celebratory and revelatory.
Lovely post, awful song ;-)
Agreed. Tsuruga’s version is the only one that I’d ever want to hear again.