Every #1 Country Single of the Eighties: Anne Murray, “Just Another Woman in Love”

September 4, 2023 Kevin John Coyne 1984, Every #1 Country Single, The Eighties 1

“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:

So pardon me if I should stare and tremble like a childThat wanting me look all over your face is driving me wildI’m just what you make meCan’t wait ’til you take me, and set all my feelings free
I know that you can, so come be my man
Tonight, I wanna beJust another woman in love
 
This record isn’t talked about much when we look back at important country records that reflected how women’s role in society has changed over the last few decades.  Anne Murray herself isn’t usually part of the conversation, either.  She should be, and so should this record.

“Just Another Woman in Love” gets an A. 

Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties

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1 Comment

  1. 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.

    Reply

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