Kirsty MacColl and Evan Dando’s cover of Lou Reed song ‘Perfect Day’
If you’re looking for an introduction to the genius that was Kirsty MacColl, 1995’s Galore is the album for you. The compilation is jam-packed with MacColl’s era-defining brand of no-nonsense pop, featuring previously released material from some of her best albums, including Kite, Electric Landlady, and Titanic Days. The first four tracks alone – ‘They Don’t Know’, ‘New England’, ‘Fairytale of New York’, ‘He’s On The Beach’ – are proof enough that she possessed something rare and, sadly, irreplaceable. Here we’ll be revisiting the final track on the album, a cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ with Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando.
Written for his 1972 album, Transformer, ‘Perfect Day’ was a surprisingly vulnerable piece of songwriting for Reed, whose lyrics are stuffed full of easy-going romanticism. What isn’t so unusual is the realism at the heart of those lyrics. It’s believed that the former Velvet Underground frontman wrote ‘Perfect Day’ after visiting Central Park with his soon-to-be fiancee Betty Kronstad, who also became Lou’s lighting designer during the Transformer tour.
In an article published in The Independent, Kronstad recalled how Lou wrote ‘Perfect Day’ about “a day we spent together in the park, exactly as he says in the song. We had become officially engaged around then. Although it appears to be a simple love song, its brilliance lies in the suggestion that love between consenting adults is never simple, always complex. He has said the most important lines of “Perfect Day” are, ‘You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.'”
That line served as ‘Perfect Day’s volta. Suddenly, we understand that no amount of love will free Reed from his demons. He is, in this sense, doomed to bitterness. Indeed, by the time Reed got to Berlin, he’d become abusive: “Fame strode on to the stage, front and centre. The guy I began dating was a sweet, quiet writer who, like most of us, had challenges. The man I left had become a monster. Sometimes fame is a fiend. It turns people into monsters until they learn how to ride it.”
That’s why ‘Perfect Day’ means so much to so many people. In its initial optimism, it predicts a world where even the most damaged and egotistical people can find happiness, a world where nobody is hurt. MacColl and Dando transform ‘Perfect Day’ into a sultry duet whispered between lovers in this brilliant cover. Kirsty’s lush harmonies are, of course, out in full force. Check it out if you haven’t already.
