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Anne Murray’s “A Little Good News,”  captures so perfectly how a torrent of negative news stories can damage the psyche.  This was in 1983, mind you, when news was limited to the newspaper, radio, and broadcast television.  If Murray was craving a little good news in 1983, I truly hope she’s staying away from cable news and social media today!

This was a big record for Murray that rewarded her releasing a song so atypically topical.  It brings out shades in her voice that she rarely utilized, as she gives a surprisingly gritty performance that expresses her anger and frustration at the negativity of the news cycle.

Forty years later, we could use a little good news more than ever, making this one of those rare topical songs that resonates beyond its specific time and place.  Here’s hoping that, great as this record is, it won’t always be so timely and relevant.