About the artist: Lou Reed (1942-2013) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and poet. He was the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the highly influential rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades, with twenty studio albums. Lou Reed currently has one song in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: Perfect day is one of the most surprising songs I know. Who would have thought that the rock and roll animal would be capable of writing and recording such a tender ballad about a lazy summers day? Although admittedly there some darker undertones in the lyrics ("You're gonna reap just what you sow...") as well, suggesting links to drugs use. The 1972 album Transformer, produced by David Bowie, yielded this masterpiece. Melody, instrumentation, lyrics, all are rather simple, but the total result is breathtaking. Somehow I feel cheated that this little known gem suddenly became public domain courtesy of the 1997 cover by a streetload of artists each singing one line - the line-up varying wildly from Lou Reed himself, Bono and David Bowie on one side versus the likes of Boyzone and Tammy Winette on the other side. Run time 3:48.
