"Nobody's Perfect" is a song by American recording artist
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
, credited as her character
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
from the
eponymous television series. It was released on May 15, 2007 by
Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...
as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
from ''
Hannah Montana 2'' (2007), the accompanying
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...
for its
second season. Written by
Matthew Gerrard
Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter.
Biography
Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...
and
Robbie Nevil
Robert S. Nevil (born October 2, 1958) is an American pop singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist who had five ''Billboard'' top 40 hits including his songs "C'est la Vie" (#2, 1986), "Dominoes" (#14, 1987), and " Wot's It to Ya" (#10, 1987 ...
and produced by Gerrard, "Nobody's Perfect" discusses the importance of overcoming mistakes; it is heavily based on
synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
musical styles.
Contemporary music critics spoke favorably of "Nobody's Perfect" in their reviews, and were appreciative of its overall production. The track peaked at number 27 on the U.S.
''Billboard'' Hot 100; by exceeding sales of 906,000 copies as of October 2010, it has additionally become the most successful track from the ''Hannah Montana'' franchise. A live performance of Cyrus performing the track as Montana serves as the accompanying music video for the track; it was broadcast first on Disney Channel, although it was later included in the
Vevo
Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
catalog. The song was also performed during Cyrus' headlining
Best of Both Worlds Tour
Best of Both Worlds Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Miley Cyrus. The tour was held in support of the double-disc album '' Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus'' (2007), which consisted of the soundtrack to ''Hannah Montana''s ...
(2007–08).
Background and composition
![Hannahperforms](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Hannahperforms.JPG)
In ''
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
'',
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
portrays the character
Miley Stewart
Miley Ray Stewart is the fictional main character in the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" on March 24, 2 ...
, a teenager who lives the secret double life as the pop star
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
. She stated that "most songs for the first season reflect the show, with Miley or Hannah making sure the other doesn't get caught or whatever," opining that the tracks provided series producers with the opportunity to "make sure that everyone understood the characters". By comparison, Cyrus described material used during the second season as "more speaking out to the fans."
"Nobody's Perfect" was written and produced by
Matthew Gerrard
Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter.
Biography
Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...
; he additionally oversaw its mixing and programming, and performed the guitar, bass, and keyboards. Greg Critchley plated the drums, while Marco Luciana was responsible for the keyboards and Ashley Sauning contributed the background vocals.
"Nobody's Perfect" appears as the second track on ''Hannah Montana 2'' with a duration of three minutes and twenty seconds. It is written in the key of
C-minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
:
Chang ...
with Cyrus' vocals spanning two
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
s from C
4 to D
5. The song was described by
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
as "synth-driven pop",
and discusses the importance of overcoming mistakes.
Release
Before being released as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
from ''
Hannah Montana 2'' on May 15, 2007,
"Nobody's Perfect" was included on the
reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions.
Reasons for reissue
New aud ...
d two-disc special edition of the original soundtrack ''
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
'' (2006). Within the ''Hannah Montana'' storyline, "Nobody's Perfect" was written by Miley's father
Robby Stewart
Robby Ray Stewart is a fictional character from the Disney Channel series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Billy Ray Cyrus. Robby is the single father of Jackson Stewart (Jason Earles) and Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus). He appears in all episodes ...
; it is first heard in the episode "Get Down, Study-udy-udy" during the second season, where Miley reworks the song into the "Bone Dance" as a way of helping her study for a biology mid-term exam. A live performance of Cyrus performing the track as Montana acts as an accompanying music video for the track; it was initially released on July 3, 2007, although it was
reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions.
Reasons for reissue
New aud ...
d through
Vevo
Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
on December 10, 2010. It was also performed during Cyrus' headlining
Best of Both Worlds Tour
Best of Both Worlds Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Miley Cyrus. The tour was held in support of the double-disc album '' Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus'' (2007), which consisted of the soundtrack to ''Hannah Montana''s ...
(2007–08).
Reception
"Nobody's Perfect" received generally favorable reviews from
contemporary music critics. Writing for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Heather Phares appreciated the incorporation of "shiny, synth-driven pop", which she credited with "
akingthe first soundtrack a hit."
Shirley Halperin from ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' shared a similar sentiment, describing it as "pure pop candy". Bob Waliszewski and Bob Smithouser from
Plugged In
Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...
classified "Nobody's Perfect" as "pro-social content", where "rather than
eating
Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...
herself up over mistakes, the singer acknowledges that 'Nobody's Perfect'" through the lyrics "Everybody has those days" and "You live and you learn it".
"Nobody's Perfect" charted at number 27 on the U.S.
''Billboard'' Hot 100,
and reached numbers 14 and 25 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Digital Songs
The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...
and
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...
charts, respectively.
As of October 2010, the track has sold 906,000 copies in the United States, becoming the most successful song from the ''Hannah Montana'' franchise.
"Nobody's Perfect" also charted at numbers 73 and 87 on the
Hot Canadian Digital Singles
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
and Australian
ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
, respectively.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''
Hannah Montana 2''.
;Recording
*Mastered at Capitol Mastering (
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
)
;Personnel
*Greg Critchley – drums
*
Matthew Gerrard
Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter.
Biography
Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...
– songwriter, producer, mixing, guitar, bass, keyboards, programming
*Marco Luciana – keyboards
*
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...
– lead vocals
*
Robbie Nevil
Robert S. Nevil (born October 2, 1958) is an American pop singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist who had five ''Billboard'' top 40 hits including his songs "C'est la Vie" (#2, 1986), "Dominoes" (#14, 1987), and " Wot's It to Ya" (#10, 1987 ...
– songwriter
*Ashley Sauning – background vocals
Charts
Certification
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nobody's Perfect (Hannah Montana song)
2007 singles
Hannah Montana songs
Songs written by Matthew Gerrard
Songs written by Robbie Nevil
Walt Disney Records singles
Hannah Montana
2007 songs
Songs from television series
Song recordings produced by Matthew Gerrard