"Perfect Strangers" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the title track of their 1984 comeback album Perfect Strangers.
It is one of the few Deep Purple songs not to feature a guitar solo. Nevertheless, band guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has called it his favorite Deep Purple song.
The album with the same title "Perfect Strangers" was the first Deep Purple studio album in nine years, and the first with the Mk II line-up in eleven years, the last being Who Do We Think We Are in 1973. Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover arrived from Rainbow, Ian Gillan from Black Sabbath, Jon Lord from Whitesnake, and Ian Paice from Gary Moore's backing band. Just one song in the reformed Deep Purple’s new repertoire, "Nobody’s Home", would be credited to all five band members. Gillan and Glover, attempted to return matters to the all-for-one credits of the band’s earliest recordings, but Blackmore held firm. It was not until Blackmore left the group in 1993 that the issue was finally resolved.
The CD and cassette versions of the album contained the extra track "Not Responsible" (one of few Deep Purple songs with profane lyrics, as the word "fucking" can be heard in the song). The album was remastered and reissued on 22 June 1999 with the bonus instrumental track "Son of Alerik". The latter had previously been available as a B-side on the single "Perfect Strangers" in 1984.
Lyrics
Can you remember
Remember my name
As I flow through your life
A thousand oceans I have flown
And cold
Cold spirits of ice
All my life
I am the echo of your past
I am returning the echo of a point in time
And distant faces shine
A thousand warriors I have known
And laughing as the spirits appear
All your life
Shadows of another day
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect Strangers
I know I must remain inside this silent well of sorrow
A strand of silver hanging through the sky
Touching more than you see
The voice of ages in your mind
Is aching with the dead of the night
Precious life (your tears are lost in falling rain)
And if you hear me talking on the wind
You've got to understand
We must remain
Perfect Strangers
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