Perfect is one of the songs on Alanis Morissette’s ground breaking 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill. I can’t think of a better way to sum up the disease that is perfectionism.
Jagged Little Pill came out the day I graduated high school. At the time, the song Perfect wasn’t anything special to me. It’s the third song on the album, sandwiched between two giant hits. It didn’t have the grittiness of my favorite song on the album, All I Really Want, and it didn’t have You Oughta Know‘s anger, or the desperation and sadness of the hidden track at the very end. Most of all, it wasn’t the type of song I’d sing at the top of my lungs while driving.
We picked up the CD a few months ago. We’ve had a few copies over the years, but lost them, and it was in the bargain used CD bin. Now, 25 years after its release, Perfect is one of my favorites on the album. I can relate to it, more so than I can to most of my former favorites. Its anger is so much… more.
It’s funny how your perspective changes over the years.
