Perfect Situation

"Perfect Situation"
Single by Weezer
Album	Make Believe
Released	May 10, 2005 (CD) October 11, 2005
Format	CD
Recorded	Summer 2004 (album version) September 7, 2005 (single version)
Length	4:15
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	739
COR#	384
Producer(s)	Weezer, Rick Rubin, Chad Bamford
Status	officially released
Live debut	July 2, 2005
Stream	Spotify
	Apple Music
Weezer singles chronology
"We Are All on Drugs" (2005) "Perfect Situation" (2005) "This Is Such A Pity" (2006)
Make Believe track listing
"Beverly Hills" (1) "Perfect Situation" (2) "This Is Such A Pity" (3)
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Fourth of July" (RC# 738) "Perfect Situation" (RC# 739) "?" (RC# 740)

"Perfect Situation" is the third single and second track from Make Believe.

Appearances

• Make Believe (original version replaced by remix on later pressings) (2005)
• "Perfect Situation" promo CD (remix - edit) (2005)
• AOL Sessions Best Buy Exclusive DVD (live session) (2005)
• Six Hits EP (remix - full length) (2008)
• Several Official Bootlegs (Live Version)

Overview

Pat: It sounds like it could have been on the Green Album. I think of it as, like, classic Weezer.

Scott: To me it’s just an epic drama, and I felt really strong about it being on the album. The lyrics of the first verse always just really killed me, so I really pushed hard for that song to make the record.

Brian: Yeah, I like it lyrically a lot: “Here’s the pitch, slow and straight”, bla bla bla bla bla bla bla, and yeah, like Pat said, it’s classic Weezer Green Album style, a lot of downstrokes, the big intro, it could have gone on that album. But I think it’s more than that now—it’s uh, you know, Green Plus!

Rivers: I sincerely hope that it’s the last song I write about being frustrated and angry with myself for being shy…because I’ve written way too many of those songs already.

—Band commentary

"Perfect Situation" was initially written around the summer of 2002. The song is first known to have been demoed as a band at S.I.R. Rehearsal Studios in Los Angeles on September 15, 2002, with Josh Freese sitting in on drums. The song continued to be demoed at S.I.R. throughout the year, and was also demoed at Swing House Rehearsal & Recording in late 2003. The song was included in Rivers Cuomo's "B-List" during pre-production on Make Believe, and did not appear on album's Amazon.com store page in the months prior to the album's release.

Initial pressings of Make Believe featured a different chorus melody than later releases. In an interview with AOL Music in 2005, Rivers Cuomo explained why the band re-recorded a new version of the song:

When I was writing the song "Perfect Situation", I had two different versions of the chorus melody; one went down and one went up, and I didn't know which one was better. I ended up settling with my first instinct, which was the one that went down. We made the record and then we went out and started playing the song live. Before the audience was really familiar with the recording, they would just hear the song, and they'd be singing along, we'd ask them to sing along with that last chorus and they just started singing the other melody that we hadn't actually recorded! They started going up at the end of the chorus. I think it was at that point we realized, "Well, if these 10,000 people think it should go this way maybe we should go back and re-record it, and so that's what we did. We got right into the studio, we re-recorded the chorus, and put out a different version of the album.

—Rivers Cuomo, interview with AOL Music, 2005

The second version of the song also included a synth track added to the first chorus, as well as backup vocals of the words "perfect situation" over the outro. The recording session was held on September 7, 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia where the Foozer Tour kicked off one day later. The radio edit of the song, which also appeared in the music video, is eight seconds shorter than the album version, featuring a shortened intro guitar solo.

In a 2005 BBC6 interview, Rivers claimed that he cried the first time he heard it being played back.

The song is also one of the band's most successful songs to date, topping the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks for four weeks, outlasting the first single from Make Believe, "Beverly Hills", although it didn't gain the massive pop success of "Beverly Hills", which hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 while "Perfect Situation" hit #51. A promo-only CD was produced, featuring the radio mix of the song, but no retail single was released.

Music video

The music video for "Perfect Situation" was directed by Marc Webb and premiered on November 11, 2005. It features actress Elisha Cuthbert as the lead singer of Weeze, a fictional predecessor to Weezer. Cuthbert's character is eventually replaced by that of Rivers Cuomo, a put-upon roadie serving the demanding Cuthbert character. The video also features a cameo by Karl Koch as a t-shirt vendor for Weeze. Actual Weezer fans participated in the music video.

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Patrick Wilson – percussion
• Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, piano
• Scott Shriner – bass guitar, backing vocals,
• Rick Rubin - producer
• Chad Bamford - additional production
• Neal Avron - mixing

Lyrics

What's the deal with my brain?
Why am I so obviously insane?
In a perfect situation,
I let love down the drain
There's the pitch, slow and straight
All I have to do is swing
And I'm a hero, but I'm a zero.

Hungry nights, once again
Now it's getting unbelievable
'Cause I could not have it better,
But I just can't get no play
From the girls, all around
As they search the night for someone to hold onto
I just pass through

Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

Get your hands off the girl
Can't you see that she belongs to me?
And I don't appreciate this excess company
Though I can't satisfy all the needs she has
And so she starts to wonder
Can you blame her?

Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

Tell me there's a logic out there
Leading me to better prepare
For the day that something really special might come
Tell me there's some hope for me
I don't wanna be lonely
For the rest of my days on the earth

Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Singing oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
(Perfect situation)
(Perfect situation)
(Perfect situation)

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo		384.mp3	2002		0:56	Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years
Rivers Cuomo	Perfect Situation	384 Perfect Situation.mp3	2002		4:25	Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years
Weezer	Perfect Situation		September 15, 2002	S.I.R. Rehearsals, Los Angeles, CA			No Pat, Josh Freese on drums
Weezer	Perfect Situation		September 23, 2002	S.I.R. Rehearsals, Los Angeles, CA			No Brian or Pat. Josh Freese on drums
Rivers Cuomo	Perfect Situation		September 27, 2002	S.I.R. Rehearsals, Los Angeles, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		October 21, 2002	S.I.R. Rehearsals, Los Angeles, CA			Acoustic rehearsal
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA			Selected as best take
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 7, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 13, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA			Version 1
Weezer	Perfect Situation		November 13, 2003	Swing House Studios, West Hollywood, CA			Version 2
Weezer	Perfect Situation		December 3, 2003—Spring 2005	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA	4:15	Make Believe (initial pressings)	Original chorus melody
Weezer	Perfect Situation		December 3, 2003—Spring 2005	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA	4:15	Make Believe (initial pressings)	Remixed chorus melody
Weezer	Perfect Situation		December 3, 2003—Spring 2005	Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA Grandmaster Recorders, Los Angeles, CA Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA	4:00	"Perfect Situation" promotional CD	"Vocal Up mix"

See also

• List of Weezer songs
• AOL Sessions (2005)