The phrase “perfect is the enemy of good” is an aphorism commonly attributed to Voltaire in 1770, but even he was apparently quoting an Italian proverb that had been around for a while. It seemed to me to be a good idea for a song. After all, trying to make a song perfect is an effective way of never finishing one. I’ve got dozens of unfinished songs that might, just might, be good enough but for one reason or another I don’t think they’re finished.
This song started as an exercise. I wanted to see if I could write a song based on a popular phrase that held up as a song. I don’t know how well I’ve succeeded – that’s always for others to decide – but I decided to declare it finished. But it’s not really – there are parts of it that never felt quite right. After recording the vocals I changed some of the lyrics. I might end up changing a few others, and maybe one day I’ll re-record this song with the new lyrics. Will that make the song better? Who knows.
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Words, music and production by Daniel Weinstein