This song originated with a lyric that Peter Allen wrote for a song he was working on with Carole Bayer Sager: “When you get caught between the moon and New York City.” Allen never finished the song, and in 1981, Bayer Sager started working with another top songwriter, Burt Bacharach. When Bacharach got the gig scoring music for the movie Arthur, starring Dudley Moore, he worked on the music for the theme song with Christopher Cross, and asked Bayer Sager to compose the lyrics. She recalled the line Allen came up with years earlier, and secured his permission to use it. (An irrelevant aside: Bacharach and Sager married in 1982 and divorced nine years later)
How do you get “caught between the moon and New York City”? According to Peter Allen, he came up with the line when his plane got stuck in a holding pattern waiting to land at JFK airport in New York. Odd what can trigger an idea for a song, a poem or a story, isn’t it?
This song won the 1982 Oscar for Best Song From A Film and Christopher Cross, whose real name is Christopher Geppert, won five Grammy awards in 1981: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for “Sailing,” Album Of The Year for Christopher Cross, and Best New Artist.
Dudley Moore, who starred in Arthur, was also an accomplished pianist. He and Cross became good friends and performed the song together a few times with Moore on piano and Cross singing. Cross is best known for his song, Sailing, which you’ll probably hear here soon!
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Christopher Cross
Once in your life you find her
Someone that turns your heart around
And next thing you know you’re closing down the town
Wake up and it’s still with you
Even though you left her way across town
Wondering to yourself, “Hey, what’ve I found?”
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do
The best that you can do is fall in love
Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he’s mastered choice
Deep in his heart, he’s just, he’s just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do,
The best that you can do is fall in love
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do,
The best that you can do is fall in love
Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Carole Bayer Sager / Christopher C. Cross / Peter W. Allen
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, BMG Rights Management
Tom Clay was a disc jockey in 1971, working for radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created this remix. The narrative includes sound bites from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and makes a heartfelt social/political comment.