By The Landlord
“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” – Immanuel Kant, Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose
"In 1984 I was hospitalised for approaching perfection …” – David Berman from Silver Jews
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
“If I waited for perfection... I would never write a word.” – Margaret Atwood
“There is a perfection in everything that cannot be owned.” – Anaïs Nin, Delta of Venus
“It is through art, and through art only, that we can realise our perfection.” – Oscar Wilde
Pint. Pie crust. Clay pot. Gourd.
The pursuit, of course, is fatally flawed.
But that’s the point, the curve, the joint –
Perfection is often cracked in the viewpoint.
Perhaps the big secret is in joy of the fleeting,
In flash of idea, the buzz of first meeting,
First magic spark, encounter unplanned,
The moment where aeon-hand joins minute-hand.
So this week the subject is timed to perfection,
Not in execution, but lyrical direction,
On people, things, places, situation, or love,
Or anything else that fits like a glove.
Nature’s perfect shape
A stunning fire sunset, fruit’s best-time ripeness,
Shadows in woods with dawn’s deftly touched lightness,
Top coffee? Best omelette? Ingredients and time
Melt in impeccable heat-and-tongue rhyme.
Where perfection is focus, where ideal is key,
It could be a flower, purring car, guitar, tree.
Inch-perfect, pitch-perfect, depending on measure,
Thing, idea, person, to sing out, and treasure.
The buzz and hive mind of millions of bees.
Instruments hewn from centuries of trees,
Stradivari violins, time and craft to combine,
Les Paul, Martin, Blüthner, Bösendorfer, Bechstein.
Perfect craft and sound: 1726 Stradivarius
Perfectionists hunt down, with fierceness, huge projects,
But with high price and fall out, perhaps in small objects –
Plants, moments, creatures, there’s really pure gold,
Where perfection’s big secrets beautifully unfold.
The wing twitch of birds, the whiskers of kitten,
Expressions of pets catch us cute as a button,
Gene-genius evolved, social integration,
Graceful in movement, supreme in persuasion.
A word, or a look, or a smile that’s a teaser,
Ambiguity captured, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa?
Beauty’s ideal might be framed in a mystery,
Or can it be measured by millimetre symmetry?
Perfect mystery: Mona Lisa
The sheen of a vase, the twinkle of stars,
Astral bodies beyond Venus or Mars,
Can perfection be captured when describing a penis?
Buttocks or thighs, breasts or the clitoris?
As ever the shape of the truly exemplary
Is defined in the nape of forever as temporary.
Perfection might come in the shape of a day,
For Lou Reed – park romance, or more things at play?
The pursuit of this goal we might call perfection,
Often, of course, turns to forms of addiction.
Music and sport highlights many in roles
Perfecting great moments in the arc of their goals,
George Jones to George Best? Both could amaze,
Pogues’ Shane McGowan, Ronnie O’Sullivan on baize,
For listener, spectator, our experience is sugared,
But for stars under spotlight, fully self-snookered.
Perfectly floored genius: George Best
Perfect storm? Time is the foe in pursuit of the perfect,
A deadline brings focus, but also a shipwreck,
Paul Valéry lands this for the poorly planned:
“A poem’s never finished, only abandoned.”
So nothing can truly be ever ideal,
Depending upon perspective, appeal.
So bring shiny pebbles to this crashed coastal shelf –
Everything’s perfect as a thing-in-itself.
“Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I'm not perfect – and I don't live to be.” – Bob Marley
“If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.” – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
“Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.” – Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses
“We all are men, in our own natures frail, and capable of our flesh; few are angels.” – Shakespeare, Henry VIII
“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali
“Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.” – Voltaire
“I think the perfection of love is that it's not perfect.” – Taylor Swift
“As soon as I have got flying to perfection, I have got a scheme about a steam engine.” – Ada Lovelace
“There must be something wrong with those people who think Audrey Hepburn doesn’t perspire, hiccup or sneeze, because they know that’s not true. I n fact, I hiccup more than most.” – Audrey Hepburn
“Perfection is terrible; it cannot have children.” – Sylvia Plath
“People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.” – Paul Simon
So then, please place your suggestions of songs about perfection comments below. No doubt finding finesse the flaws and pruning everything to perfection this this week’s perfect guest, Loud Atlas! The perfect time for song nominations is up until 11pm on Monday UK time for playlists published next week. But for now, let’s see if we can attain it.
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