“Just Another Woman in Love”
Anne Murray
Written by Wanda Mallette and Patti Ryan
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
June 22 – June 29, 1984
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
July 21, 1984
In the fall of 1984 at the CMA Awards, Anne Murray won Single of the Year for “A Little Good News” and Album of the Year for the LP of the same name.
No doubt the latter win was powered by its title track, but by the time ceremony rolled around, it had produced another No. 1 country hit with “Just Another Woman in Love.”
“Just Another Woman in Love” returns Murray to more familiar lyrical territory, as it’s yet another tender ballad about love. The production and performance sound like something we’ve all heard before, but the songwriting brings a fresh perspective, thanks to it being written by two women. By this time in the eighties, the image of a successful woman was changing, and the writers capture this well:
I’m strong, I’m sureI’m in control, a lady with a planBelieving that life is a neat little packageI hold in my handI’ve got it together, they call me the girlWho knows just what to say and do
This woman has it all together, but her man can still make her fall apart, and she’s sure looking forward to that when she gets home:
“Just Another Woman in Love” gets an A.
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I adore this song. The soft instrumental intro is perfect companion to her hesitant opening statements of courage and confidence The rising and falling melody within the chorus captures her emotional vulnerability and the unexpected volatility of being in love.
Murray’s rich and powerful vocals build to the climactic declaration which is only resolved by acknowledging that what she was afraid might make her experience cliché is actually a hugely empowering, universalizing, and normalizing event in her life.
Something to be shared with other women in love.
This song expertly stands beside the best songs of Crystal Gayle this decade.