"Perfect World" is a song performed by

Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singles across the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Adult Contempora ...

and released as the first single from the album '' Small World'' in late June 1988. The single peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #48 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

History

The song was written by Alex Call, a former bandmate of Lewis and Sean Hopper from the band,

Clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

. Call had previously co-written the hit song "

867-5309/Jenny "867-5309/Jenny" is a 1981 song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone that was released on the album ''Tommy Tutone 2'', on the Columbia Records label. It peaked at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in May 1 ...

" for

Tommy Tutone Tommy Tutone is an American power pop band, known for its 1981 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Though some people consider the band to be a one-hit wonder, it did reach the Top 40 the year before with "An ...

. Huey Lewis gave the song a reggae flavor. The song is an optimistic commentary on a human being's hopes and dreams, as well as our private thoughts. The song tells the person to "keep on dreaming," because there will never be a perfect world. The song admits that life isn't perfect, but tells the listener to use the power of positive dreaming to cope with the reality. The B-side to the single was an instrumental album track, "Slammin'".

Music video

The music video features the band playing on a stage in a garbage dump field, with various pieces of garbage flying in the air, hitting various members of the band. Throughout the video, Huey Lewis dances and strolls through a pathway as work is done by garbage trucks behind him. At the end of the video, the band is seen posing by more garbage. The video received heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and peaked at #3 on the channel's Top 20 Video Countdown. Lewis has said that the video is one of his favorites that he's done, and considered it one of the more "relaxed" videos the band ever filmed "The early ideoswere fun, but we had so much to do with limited budget that we had to work to exhaustion".http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038 Huey Lewis Fan Q&A: November 16, 2015 Lewis felt the video was a "creative idea" and he enjoyed that it all took place in one location and was "fairly easy" to do.http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038 Huey Lewis Fan Q&A: December 16, 2018

Reception

Reception for the song was mostly positive. Lynn Van Matre of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' said that the song was "Wry," and it seemed "destined" to be another top ten single from the band. According to Martin Moynihan of the ''

Albany Times Union The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sar ...

'', the song was "a pop music mix of Lewis' usual musical optimism tempered with an element of reserve" Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

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 ...

said of the song, "None of the musical diversions work as well as the bouncy Top Ten hit 'Perfect World.'" Erlewine also believed that the song ranked "with the group's best material." Jerry Spangler of ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' said that the song was a "captivating rocker." ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer Stephen Holden considers the song a "companion piece" to the first song off of the ''Small World'' album, "Small World, Part One".

Chart performance

"Perfect World" was the first single released from the album ''Small World''. Originally to be released in mid-June, the single's release was held off until later in the month. It was the 12th and last top 10 hit for the band, peaking at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1988 singles 1988 songs Huey Lewis and the News songs Songs written by Alex Call RPM Top Singles number-one singles Chrysalis Records singles