"Perfect" is a song by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist Sara Evans. The track was written by Evans, Tom Shapiro, and Tony Martin, with production provided by Evans and Paul Worley. It was released on September 1, 2003, via RCA Nashville Records as the second single from her fourth studio album ''Restless'' (2003). It peaked at number two on the US

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, becoming her fifth top-ten single.

Content

"Perfect" is performed in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

, with Evans's vocals ranging from G#3–B4. Lyrically, the track speaks on how love doesn't need to be perfect in order to be great.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song, directed by Bobby G., features Evans singing the song with an old-fashioned microphone in a T-shirt and jeans, as well driving a red car through the desert. It was shot at El Mirage Dry Lake Bed in California's

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

. It was released to CMT on September 7, 2003. It reached the top spot of the network's ''Top Twenty Countdown'' for the week of January 6, 2004, and was placed in heavy rotation.

Chart performance

"Perfect" debuted at number 55 on the US ''Billboard''

chart the week of September 20, 2003, becoming the highest debut of the week. By the end of 2003, the track had reached number 24. It would enter the top-ten of the chart the week of February 21, 2004, at number ten. That week also featured Terri Clark's " I Wanna Do It All" (no. 4) and Martina McBride's " In My Daughter's Eyes" (no. 7), making it the first time since November 3, 2001 that three solo female artists were simultaneously in the top ten; that week featured singles by McBride, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, and Reba McEntire in the top-ten. "Perfect" would reach a peak position of number two on the chart on April 3, 2004 behind Kenny Chesney's " When the Sun Goes Down", making it the highest charting single by a solo female artist since Terri Clark's " I Just Wanna Be Mad" also stopped at the runner up spot on February 22, 2003. It spent 33 weeks in total on the chart, Evans's fourth longest run. In February 2004, the song would receive a Spin Award from Broadcast Data Systems for 50,000 confirmed plays. It would receive another Spin Award in May 2004, this time for 100,000 confirmed plays.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Sara Evans songs 2003 singles Sara Evans songs Songs written by Sara Evans Songs written by Tom Shapiro Songs written by Tony Martin (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Paul Worley RCA Records Nashville singles 2003 songs