The piece looks back at three soft rock songs from 1981 that remain widely recognised by those who grew up in the 1980s, highlighting how the genre thrived alongside heavier and more electronic sounds of the era. It underlines the lasting popularity of these tracks by noting their chart success, awards and connections to notable artists and films of the time.

The three songs are "Waiting For A Girl Like You" by Foreigner, written by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm for their album 4; "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, which spent nine weeks at No. 1 and remains Carnes's only chart-topping single; and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross, co-written with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen for the film Arthur, which reached No. 1 and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.