"Perfect Situation" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

. It was released to radio on October 11, 2005 as the third single from the band's fifth album ''

Make Believe Make believe, also known as pretend play, is a loosely structured form of play that generally includes role-play, object substitution and nonliteral behavior. What separates play from other daily activities is its fun and creative aspect rather t ...

'', following "

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

" and "

We Are All on Drugs "We Are All on Drugs" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It was released as the second single from the band's 2005 album, ''Make Believe''. "We Are All on Drugs" was released to radio on July 12, 2005. The song is not specifically ...

". The song is also one of the band's most successful songs to date, topping the Billboard

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

for four weeks, outlasting the one-week run atop the chart of "Beverly Hills", although it didn't gain the former's massive pop success, reaching #51 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Radio edit

The radio edit of this song features a shortened intro, a synth track on the first and second chorus (the album version only has it on the second chorus), a reworked "oh-oh" chorus and the added backup vocals of "perfect situation" over the outro. The radio edit is eight seconds shorter than the album version. The reworked chorus that appears in the radio edit was one of two ways Cuomo originally wrote the song. When touring in summer 2005, when the band prompted the crowd to sing along, they oddly enough sang it in the other way Cuomo had written it (different from the record version). Cuomo stated in an interview during the band's 2005 performance at the

AOL Sessions AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

as saying "Well, if these ten thousand people think it should go this way, maybe we should go back and re-record it." The alternate version was put on later pressings of the album with the full intro, reworked chorus and outro.

Music video

The video, directed by

Marc Webb Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American music video director and filmmaker. Webb made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the romantic comedy ''500 Days of Summer'', and went on to direct ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in ...

, premiered on November 11, 2005, and features actress

Elisha Cuthbert Elisha Ann Cuthbert Phaneuf (; born 30 November 1982) is a Canadian actress and model. As a Child actor, child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra in the Canadian horror-themed series for children ''Are You Afraid of the ...

as the lead singer of Weeze, a fictional predecessor to Weezer, who is eventually replaced by actual frontman

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

. The video also features a cameo by the band's webmaster/band photographer/archivist and longtime close friend Karl Koch and like the "Beverly Hills" video, the band invited actual Weezer fans via casting call to be in the video's crowd scenes. A new cover for ''Make Believe'' was created for the video of Perfect Situation, replacing Cuomo with Cuthbert, as well as showing the fictional name "Weeze".

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

– lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards *

Brian Bell Brian Lane Bell (born December 9, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded fi ...

– rhythm guitar *

Scott Shriner Scott Gardner Shriner (born July 11, 1965) is an American musician best known as a member of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded twelve studio albums. Joining the band in 2001, Shriner is the band's longest serving bass guitarist. Prio ...

– bass guitar *

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

– drums, percussion *

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

– production

References

External links

Lyrics for "Perfect Situation"
* {{Authority control Weezer songs 2005 singles Songs written by Rivers Cuomo Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Music videos directed by Marc Webb 2004 songs