The Perfect Kiss
"The Perfect Kiss" is the ninth single by the British alternative dance and rock band New Order. It was recorded at Britannia Row Studios in London and released on 13 May 1985 by Factory Records. It is the first New Order song to be released as a single while also included on a studio album. The vinyl version has Factory catalogue number FAC 123 and the video has the opposite number, FAC 321.
Background
The song's themes include love and death. The overall meaning of the song is unclear to its writer today. In an interview with GQ magazine, New Order's singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner said "I haven't a clue what this is about." He agreed with the interviewer that his best known lyric is in the song: "Pretending not to see his gun / I said, 'Let's go out and have some fun. The lyrics, he added, came about after the band was visiting a man's house in the United States who showed his guns under his bed before they went out for an enjoyable night. It had been quickly written, recorded and mixed without sleep before the band went on tour in Australia.The song, while never officially remixed by the band's label, exists in many lengths, all edited from the 8:46 full-length version found on the 12-inch single. These include the 4:48 Low-life album version, the 3:51 UK 7-inch version, the 4:23 US 7-inch version, the 8:02 Substance CD/DAT version, the 4:23 Total version, and a 5:26 Canadian promotional version.
The song has also been remixed by third parties like Razormaid and Hot Tracks and has been covered by bands including Capsule Giants, Nude, International, Paradoxx, Razed in a New Division of Agony, and Amoeba Crunch.