Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)

Recording and composition

The original recording, like the rest of the Transformer album, was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson (who also wrote the string arrangement and played piano on the track).

The song begins in its verse, which is a progression of major triads in descending perfect fifths, starting however on a minor triad. The song then explodes into the chorus, which is written in the parallel major key to the verse.

The song has a sombre vocal delivery and slow, piano-based instrumental backing balancing tones of sweet nostalgia ("it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you"). It was written after Reed and his then fiancée (later his first wife), Bettye Kronstad, spent a day in Central Park.

The song's lyrics are often considered to suggest simple, conventional romantic devotion, possibly alluding to Reed's relationship with Bettye Kronstad and Reed's own conflicts with his sexuality, drug use, and ego.

Some commentators have further seen the lyrical subtext as displaying Reed's romanticized attitude towards a period of his own addiction to heroin (especially the sinister closing line, "You're going to reap just what you sow"); this popular understanding of the song as an ode to addiction led to its inclusion in the soundtrack for Trainspotting, a film about the lives of heroin addicts.

In other media

Reed's original recording was featured on an AT&T commercial featuring snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler that ran during the 2010 Olympics.

The song appeared in the trailers for the film You're Next and series 3 of Downton Abbey.

PlayStation featured "Perfect Day" in a television advertisement to promote the-then launch of PlayStation 4 where two people in various video game-related genres are shown singing the song while battling each other. The advertisement debuted on North American television in October 2013 two weeks before Reed's death.

The song was featured incidentally in the TV shows Fear the Walking Dead, Gotham, The Last Man on Earth, Bones and Holby City in addition to MythBusters' final episode.

Personnel

BBC corporate film and charity release

In 1997, a version of the song was showcased by the BBC in a lengthy corporate promotion of its diverse music coverage which was broadcast on BBC channels and in cinemas. It featured Lou Reed himself and other major artists in what the Financial Times described as "an astonishing line-up of world class performers". In reference to the licence fee, the film ends with the message "Whatever your musical taste, it is catered for by BBC Radio and Television. This is only possible thanks to the unique way the BBC is paid for by you. BBC. You make it what it is." This message appears over the repeated words "You're going to reap just what you sow" which The Guardian described as "a none too subtle message: keep writing the cheque." In response to accusations from commercial competitors that the corporation had wasted vast sums on the film it was revealed that each artist received a "token" £250 because of their belief in the BBC.

Prompted by huge public demand the track was released on November 17, 1997 as a charity single for Children in Need, and Reed said "I have never been more impressed with a performance of one of my songs." It was the UK's number one single for three weeks, in two separate spells. The record contributed £2,125,000 to the charity's highest fundraising total in six years, and, as of November 2016, has sold 1.54 million copies. The release featured two additional versions of the song: one entirely sung by female performers, one by male performers. The BBC also produced a Christmas version of the accompanying music video.

In Ireland, the song was also a huge success, remaining at number one for seven weeks, and becoming that year's Christmas number one.

Performers

Performers in order of appearance; parentheses indicate mute appearance, and dividers indicate verses/sections.

Sequels

Following the success of the "Perfect Day" music video, the BBC produced three further similar campaigns. The first, Future Generations, in December 1998, did a similar multi-celebrity montage with favourite BBC children's programmes. The second, called Shaggy Dog Story, featured various comedians and comic actors telling a long-winded shaggy dog story, with each one sharing a line or phrase. A second, shorter shaggy dog story, entitled Mammals vs. Insects, was also broadcast on 4 January 2000. Seventeen years after "Perfect Day"'s release, the BBC produced a campaign for their new music division where 27 musicians (labelled "The Impossible Orchestra") covered the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows". The only person to appear in both campaigns is Sir Elton John.

The cover was parodied on a 1997 special Harry Enfield and Chums, as well as by Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

The single inspired Sony Music to release a various artists compilation album, Perfect Day, in early 1998. It reached number 7 in the UK Compilation Chart. It featured Reed's original version of the song instead of the Various Artists version.

Music Live 2000

A BBC live television event in 2000, which consisted of music programs around the clock, ended in another round-robin performance of "Perfect Day". Although watched by millions, the recording of the show that was released as a single was not a chart success, reaching only number 69 in mid-June 2000.

This line-up included Rolf Harris and a beginning and ending performance from Lou Reed himself.

Duran Duran version

A cover version of "Perfect Day" was the first single from the Duran Duran covers album Thank You. It reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart in 1995.

Lou Reed has been cited as an inspiration by several members of Duran Duran, and the album Thank You was intended to be a tribute to the band's influences, in the style of David Bowie's Pin Ups.

The song featured a rare appearance by Duran Duran's first drummer Roger Taylor, who left the band at the height of their fame in 1986, and had had little contact with them in the ten years afterward. He joined Duran Duran in the studio to record "Perfect Day", "Watching the Detectives" and "Jeepster" for the covers album. Taylor also appeared in the video and in a promotional appearance on Top of the Pops.

Backing vocals were provided by longtime Duran Duran collaborator Tessa Niles. The recording was produced by John Jones and David Richards, with additional programming by Mark Tinley.

The music video was filmed in February 1995 by director Nick Egan, and first aired in March. It featured the band with their instruments inside the box of a sound stage lined with vivid red walls, and the video is intensely saturated, even overexposed at times. Clips of a melancholy Simon Le Bon singing, and other band members performing or reacting to the lyrics, are interspersed with snippets of surreal images. The camera occasionally pulls back to show the entire stage structure and its supports, increasing the sense of unreality.

The single was released in several versions, including numerous different remixes of the title track and other Duran Duran songs. In addition to the single and the Thank You album, the song also appeared in Duran Duran's Singles Box Set 1986–1995, released in 2004.

On Duran Duran's episode of Behind the Music, Reed admitted that their version might be better than his original version, saying, "I think Duran Duran's version of 'Perfect Day' is possibly the best rerecording of a song of mine. I'm not sure that I sang it as well as Simon [Le Bon] sang it. I think he sings it better than I [did]. If I could've sung it the way he did, I would've. It wasn't from lack of trying. They recorded it the way I meant [to record] it, which is a real big thrill for me, so thank you, Duran Duran."

Chart positions

The song reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The UK release included a 2-CD set ("Part 1" and "Part 2"), containing different mixes and bonus tracks, sold both separately and together. A limited edition release included a scratch and sniff ice cream cone cover.

The bonus tracks on the double CD set issued in the US and the UK included two more covers which were not included on the album: "The Needle and the Damage Done", originally by Neil Young, and "Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)" originally by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.

Other appearances

Apart from the single, "Perfect Day" also appears on the albums

Personnel

Duran Duran:

With:

Also credited:

Susan Boyle version

Scottish recording artist Susan Boyle covered the song on her second album The Gift and also released it on 8 November 2010 as a single.

Conflict with Lou Reed

In September 2010, Susan Boyle had to cancel a performance on America's Got Talent at the last minute. She had planned to sing "Perfect Day", but two hours before the show, she was told that Lou Reed had intervened, refusing her permission to perform his song and to include it on her forthcoming album The Gift. As she and her choir didn't have time to rehearse another number, she decided to cancel her performance. A couple of days later, representatives of Lou Reed stated that he had nothing to do with the decision and that it was just a licensing glitch.

A couple of weeks later, Lou Reed agreed not only to let her include the song on The Gift, but also to produce her music video of the song. It was shot on the banks of Loch Lomond and premiered on 7 November 2010.

Live performances

On 19 November 2010 she performed the song on Children in Need. She also performed this again at the 82nd Royal Variety Performance, performed on the 9 December 2010.

Vatican tweet

Soon after Reed's death in 2013, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican's culture minister, made news by tweeting lyrics from the song:

Because the song is thought by some to be drug-related, the cardinal later clarified that he did not condone drug use.