American audiences who heard the 1985 song “Perfect Way” by Scritti Politti knew that it was the output of another outstanding British band, not at all unusual for that era. They might even have tied it to the “sophisti-pop” movement that was starting to make major inroads.
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They likely had no idea about the wild road that the band and their lead singer and songwriter, Green Gartside, had traveled to reach that point. Nor could they have known about how the song represented a 180-degree turn from Scritti Politti’s original music.
Green Thoughts
Unless you know your Italian really well, you might not have gleaned that the band name Scritti Politti is roughly translated as “political writing.” Certainly, there’s no indication in the effervescent, romantic “Perfect Way” that this band had heavier things on their mind at one point.
When they began in the late 70s, the band took a somewhat anarchic spirit into their recordings. Like many, they were enamored of the punk movement of the time. Green Gartside and company took that approach to the extreme with its earliest records, which insisted upon a DIY aesthetic without any commercial trappings.
Because even then, Gartside had a way of getting across his message, the band started to develop a following. But little by little, their leader started to feel like the approach was limiting what he wanted to accomplish. Gartside began to shift away from his original recording ethos, which cost him the rest of his band.
Picture “Perfect”
Undaunted, he started to fall for American soul music, which proved a huge influence on the music scene at the time in Great Britain. Gartside also started to see the possibilities of using synthesizers as well. His songwriting reflected his shift to pop sensibilities on a series of songs that he started working up with a new version of Scritti Politti, circa 1983.
This new version of the band featured keyboardist/synth player David Gamson and drummer Fred Maher. Starting in 1984, the band released a series of singles that did very well in Great Britain. Those singles all showed up on the album Cupid & Psyche 85, which appeared, you guessed it, in 1985.
While Gartside still discussed weighty topics at times in his lyrics on those singles, the music made it come off as buoyant instead of strident. And then there was “Perfect Way”, which dealt with romance. But Gartside’s nifty wordplay deconstructed the approach of a typical love song.
Many pop listeners just heard an irresistible groove, cool production flourishes, and an unstoppable chorus. “Perfect Way” might have been subtly subverting the pop genre, but it certainly thrived within it. It reached No. 11 on the US charts, by far the biggest hit from the band in the States.
Behind the Lyrics of “Perfect Way”
Gartside deals backhanded compliments to the person he’s addressing throughout “Perfect Way”. For example: “You got a conscience, compassion, you got a way with the word/You got a heart full of complacency too.” He doesn’t pretend to rise above it all, either: “I don’t have a purpose or mission, I’m empty by definition.”
“I took a page out of my rulebook for you,” the narrator admits. Gartside refuses to go all-in with cliches about this relationship. “Want to forgive you for all the things that you do,” he wails. “Wanna forget how to remember with you.” He waxes cynical about his pop approach in the chorus: “I got a perfect way to make the girls go crazy.”
You can appreciate “Perfect Way” for its ambitious production. Or you could snicker along to how gleefully Green Gartside sends up the conventions of the genre. Even better, you can do a little bit of both, in which case you’ll surely marvel at Scritti Politti’s purest pop shot.
Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns
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