"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, ear ...

band Hedley for their third studio album, '' The Show Must Go'' (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 in ...

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 s ...

, while Bendeth co-produced the track with

Brian Howes Brian Howes, also known as Howes, is a Canadian songwriter and record producer. Career Howes played in a British Columbia band, Young Guns, and later fronted the group DDT which blended punk, ska, and rap. The band was signed to Metallica drumme ...

. 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, an ...

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, 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 collect ...

Pop/Rock song award in 2010 for its strong radio presence and two

MuchMusic Video Awards The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018. Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMus ...

, including Video of the Year, at the 2010 ceremony.

Composition

"Perfect" is a

song written by

, and

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 musica ...

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 accompanim ...

, 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 a ...

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), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

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 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 Postmedia Place i ...

'' that "Perfect" represents the band "feeling confident in this new line of ore maturemusic," 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 ga ...

Reception

Critical

"Perfect" received a

Award in 2010 in the category of

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

/ Rock for performing well on radio. The following year, "Perfect" was nominated for Single of the Year at the

, but lost to

Young Artists for Haiti Young Artists for Haiti was a movement to engage Canada's young musicians to continue to inspire an ongoing effort and contribution to Canadian charities for their work to help the people of Haiti overcome the devastation from the 7.1 magnitude ea ...

'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-Canadian musician. He rose to prominence ...

'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, pr ...

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 advertis ...

'' charts, debuting at number 40 on the

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 ...

, 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 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at MuchMusic's headquarters on 20 June 2010. Along with the MuchMusic VJ's, it was confirmed on the MuchMusic website that Miley Cyrus will co-host the show. The artists with ...

, 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