Perfect Day

Reed wrote the song in 1972, and it was released as a double A-side with Walk on the Wild Side. Bowie and Ronson produced it, and Ronson wrote the string arrangement and played piano. Reed praised the beauty of Ronson's work in an episode of Classic Albums, and the vocal is kept down to let the strings stand out. The film Trainspotting used it in 1996. Reed said in 2000 that the character's idea of a perfect day was the girl, sangria in the park and then home, and that he meant just what he said. Nick Tosches in Rolling Stone thought it the worst of the Transformer batch, and Pitchfork in 2003 judged it among the least characteristic songs Reed ever wrote.

In 1997 the BBC made a promotional film of the song with many artists, Reed among them, including Bono, David Bowie, Elton John, Boyzone, Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Shane MacGowan and Tom Jones. Released on 17 November 1997 for Children in Need, it was number one in Britain for three weeks in two spells, and also topped the charts in Ireland and Norway. It raised 2,125,000 pounds for the charity. Reed said he had never been more impressed with a performance of one of his songs. He re-recorded the song for his 2003 album The Raven.

Covers

Duran Duran took it to 28 in Britain in 1995, and Reed said theirs was potentially the best re-recording of any of his songs. Kirsty MacColl and Evan Dando reached 75 the same year. Susan Boyle recorded it in 2010 and Al Green and Raye in 2023.