Perfect Day

By Lou Reed
Transformer (1972)

Just a perfect day,
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.

Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.

Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.

Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.

You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow...


"Perfect Day" is a song written by Lou Reed in 1972. Its fame was given a boost in the 1990s when it was featured in the 1996 film Trainspotting, and after its release as a charity single in 1997.

The song was originally featured on the 1972 album Transformer. The song's lyrics are often considered to suggest simple, conventional romantic devotion, possibly alluding to Reed’s relationship with Bettye Kronstadt (soon to become his first wife) and Reed’s own conflicts with his sexuality, drug use and ego.[1]

However, on a deeper reading of the song's lyrics, amongst the idealised description of a "perfect day", interposed lines such as "You just keep me hanging on", and "I thought I was someone else, someone good" suggest a far deeper yearning than just the superficial romantic cliches, and allude to the underlying and painful bitterness of nostalgia often felt even as an event is lived - an event one knows or fears to be a mere distraction or illusion.

Some commentators have further seen the lyrics as displaying Reed's romanticised attitude towards a period of his own addiction to heroin. Critics of this view assert that Reed never tried to conceal his drug use, so the song does not have concealed meanings of this nature. However, this popular belief of the song's underlying meaning gave many across the United Kingdom a smile when the BBC used the song and the charity version was released.

Reed re-recorded the song for his 2003 album The Raven.

(sourced from wikipedia)