Perfect

"Sorry I can't be perfect" is something many kids say to their parents at some point. This song is directed specifically to the father, with lead singer Pierre Bouvier singing from the perspective of a kid who can no longer communicate with his dad. Inspiration for the song came from drummer Chuck Comeau's parents, who weren't supportive of his career choice. Becoming a musician is not the best path to a stable career, but was his dream and he wanted them to be supportive. After Simple Plan signed a deal with Lava Records, he and Bouvier wrote this song to prove to Comeau's parents that he made it, and to say sorry that he's not perfect.

This song had a huge impact on kids who were struggling to get along with the authority figures in their lives. It let them know that others felt the same way, and a sense of community formed around it. Simple Plan saw the impact for the first time at a show early in their career at a ski resort in Vermont. "There was no barricade or anything, Pierre Bouvier told Songfacts. "The front row was all a bunch of young people - mostly young girls - that were sitting on the sides of the stage where we were playing, and when we played 'Perfect,' a lot of them were crying. They weren't crying hysterically like with the Beatles where it's like, 'I love you!' It was more the emotion from the lyrics and how they could relate to it. And I remember being like, Holy s--t. These people are crying to the words that I'm singing. That was the first time I saw that, and I remember it being an indicator of how these songs are more than just me and a band."

This was the fourth single from Simple Plan's debut album, and their most successful in America, where it reached #24. The pop-punk sound was big at the time; Simple Plan were part of a wave that also included Sum 41 and Good Charlotte.