The Lou Reed song Tina Weymouth wishes she’d written
There are few songs that are widely accepted to be perfect. Many artists have tried to pen a hit so good it appeals to a mass audience forever, but very few have succeeded. One outlier in that is Lou Reed, and in 1972, he released the stunning ‘Perfect Day’, a track that has been lauded, covered, and referenced by artists and audiences alike for decades.
Over 20 years on from its release, Danny Boyle featured the song on the soundtrack to Trainspotting, and shortly after that, even Duran Duran released their take on the track. Towards the end of the 1990s, ‘Perfect Day’ was used as the charity single for Children in Need, with performers including Bono, David Bowie, Boyzone, and Reed himself.
The legacy of the song is still ongoing. Earlier this year, Al Green covered the song and stated: “I loved Lou’s original ‘Perfect Day’. The song immediately puts you in a good mood. We wanted to preserve that spirit while adding our own sauce and style”.
Since its first release, artists have lauded and envied Reed’s songwriting on ‘Perfect Day’, including Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. When asked to name the song she wishes she’d written by NME, Weymouth named ‘Perfect Day’, which she dubbed “amazing”.
The members of Talking Heads had met Reed in the early years of their careers, existing within the same scene in New York. Reed attended a Talking Heads performance at CBGB’s, according to Frantz’s memoir Remain in Love, offering them characteristically brutal advice and putting himself forward to produce their debut album. Though this didn’t come to fruition, the influence of Reed on the new wave pioneers clearly continued.
Gushing over ‘Perfect Day’, Weymouth stated: “It’s just amazing, everything about it – the arrangement, the production, the performance, the sentiment, gosh, we all wish we’d written that one.” Weymouth has penned her fair share of hits, including some of Talking Heads’ biggest tracks, like ‘Burning Down the House’ and ‘Psycho Killer’, songs that many would consider to be perfect in their own right. Nonetheless, she envies Reed’s genius on ‘Perfect Day’.
Weymouth’s opinion, understandably, is shared by many – ‘Perfect Day’ is an exquisite track. Forming the B-side to ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ and featuring on Reed’s sophomore record, Transformer, ‘Perfect Day’ comprised a potent piano melody, soaring strings, and Reed’s half-emotional, half-indifferent vocals. Lyrically, it’s a masterpiece which has been subject to endless speculation.
Particularly following its feature in Trainspotting, many have concluded that the song is written about heroin addiction, but Reed maintained that it was simply about a perfect day – drinking Sangria, going to the zoo and watching the movies. In its simplicity, the track finds its beauty – open to interpretation, at once comforting and heartbreaking, ‘Perfect Day’ really is the song we all wish we’d written.
