"Perfect" is a song by recorded by Canadian
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band
Hedley for their third studio album, ''
The Show Must Go
''The Show Must Go'' is Canadian pop rock group Hedley's third studio album and was released on November 17, 2009, in Canada. The album was successful, producing three top 20 singles, with the lead track, " Cha-Ching", and eighth track, " Perfe ...
'' (2009). Lead singer
Jacob Hoggard
Jacob William Hoggard (born July 9, 1984) is a Canadian convicted sex offender and former singer-songwriter who was the lead singer for the pop-rock band Hedley. Before Hedley was formed, Hoggard competed on the second season of ''Canadian Ido ...
co-wrote the song with
David Bendeth
David Jonathan Bendeth (born 17 June 1954) is a multi-platinum award-winning record producer.
Early life
David Bendeth was born on 17 June 1954 in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, England. He attended Parkhill School in Ilford, London and ...
and
Dave Genn
David Robert Madison Genn is a Canadian musician, producer, and songwriter. He is a member of the rock group 54-40, and a former member of the Matthew Good Band.
Early life
Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 2 March 1969. He is the ...
, while Bendeth co-produced the track with
Brian Howes. It was first released on February 8, 2010 through
Universal Music Canada
Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here.
According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...
as the record's third single. "Perfect" was released in the United States through
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
on August 10, 2010 as the group's first official single in that country.
Upon release, "Perfect" reached number seven on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
, earning the band their second top-10 single from ''The Show Must Go''. It also became their first charting entry in the US by peaking at number 25 on the ''Billboard''
Adult Pop Songs
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
chart.
The song earned a nomination for
Single of the Year at the
Juno Awards of 2011
The Juno Awards of 2011 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2009 and in most of 2010. The awards were presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during the weekend of 26 and 27 March 2011. A week of related events bega ...
.
It also won a
SOCAN
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...
Pop/Rock song award in 2010 for its strong radio presence and two
MuchMusic Video Awards, including
Video of the Year, at the
2010 ceremony.
Composition
"Perfect" is a
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
song written by
Jacob Hoggard
Jacob William Hoggard (born July 9, 1984) is a Canadian convicted sex offender and former singer-songwriter who was the lead singer for the pop-rock band Hedley. Before Hedley was formed, Hoggard competed on the second season of ''Canadian Ido ...
,
David Bendeth
David Jonathan Bendeth (born 17 June 1954) is a multi-platinum award-winning record producer.
Early life
David Bendeth was born on 17 June 1954 in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, England. He attended Parkhill School in Ilford, London and ...
, and
Dave Genn
David Robert Madison Genn is a Canadian musician, producer, and songwriter. He is a member of the rock group 54-40, and a former member of the Matthew Good Band.
Early life
Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 2 March 1969. He is the ...
which lasts for four minutes and ten seconds. The
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
opens on a short
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
, which is then repeated in the background during the
verses.
According to the sheet music published by
Universal Music Publishing Group
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram.
Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...
, "Perfect" is composed in the key of
C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
and set in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
to a moderate tempo of 76
BPM.
The song follows a
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
of Am – F – C – G – G (except for the
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
, which omits the G) and includes a vocal range of one
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 ...
and three
note
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...
s, from G to C.
Lyrically, the song is about a man owning up to his mistakes and vowing to try and be a better man. Hoggard told the ''
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'' that "Perfect" represents the band "feeling confident in this new line of
ore mature
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April ...
music," and described the song as "a big turning point for
hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...
"
Reception
Critical
"Perfect" received a
SOCAN
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...
Award in 2010 in the category of
Pop /
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
for performing well on radio.
The following year, "Perfect" was nominated for
Single of the Year at the
Juno Awards of 2011
The Juno Awards of 2011 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2009 and in most of 2010. The awards were presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during the weekend of 26 and 27 March 2011. A week of related events bega ...
,
but lost to
Young Artists for Haiti's cover of
K'naan
Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali Canadians, Somali-Canadian musician. He ...
's "
Wavin' Flag
"Wavin' Flag" is a song by Somali-Canadian artist K'naan from his album ''Troubadour''. The song was originally written for Somalia and aspirations of its people for freedom. The original single was a hit in Canada and reached number two on the ...
". Jacob Hoggard of Hedley was one of the artists contributing to the
supergroup, making him one of the recipients of the award.
Commercial
"Perfect" entered the
''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100 at number 36 on the chart dated December 5, 2009. It was the week's highest-ranking debut and also notably debuted one spot above the position of their previous single, "
Don't Talk to Strangers", which was the week's "airplay gainer". After reaching the top 10 in April 2010, "Perfect" peaked at number 7 on the chart dated May 8, 2010. The song reached a peak position of 5 on the
Canadian Digital Songs
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, p ...
component chart the same week.
"Perfect" is the band's first song to enter one of the US ''
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 ...
'' charts, debuting at number 40 on the
Adult Pop Songs
The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
chart dated October 2, 2010. The song spent 20 weeks on the chart and reached a peak of 25 on the chart dated January 1, 2011.
Music video
The music video for "Perfect" was directed by Kyle Davison and Mahlon Todd Williams and premiered March 5, 2010.
It alternates between performance shots – first of Hoggard alone at a piano, and later the whole band – in an all-white room and "abstract vignettes"
that depict a tumultuous relationship; the latter are presented in
slow motion
Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...
, with images of flames or shattered glass superimposed on the scene. Toward the end of the video, Hoggard is shown dressed all in white while the female character hurls a bucketful of red paint at him. This red splatter imagery is used in the single artwork. According to Davison, the video is meant to represent "a relationship at the beginning of the end."
Reception
At the
2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, the video for "Perfect" was nominated in five categories:
Video of the Year,
Best Post-Production,
Best Cinematography,
Director of the Year (for Kyle Davison), and
People's Choice (UR Fave).
It won the awards for Post-Production and Video of the Year, their second win in the latter category.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect (Hedley Song)
2009 songs
2010 singles
Hedley (band) songs
Universal Music Canada singles
Island Records singles
Songs written by Jacob Hoggard
Songs written by Dave Genn
Juno Award for Video of the Year videos
Songs written by David Bendeth
Song recordings produced by David Bendeth