Synopsis

The video follows the same group of suburban friends introduced in "1979," now a few years older and still drifting through Los Angeles. Their aimless day unfolds through drives, casual encounters, fragments of romance, and flashes of the Smashing Pumpkins performing for an intimate crowd. The youthful energy of the earlier video has faded into a more reflective mood, suggesting that adolescence has passed without offering clear direction. Its closing image adds a darkly comic reminder that memories, like tapes, can easily be lost.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Perfect" was conceived as a sequel to the Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" video, with the original characters returning as older versions of themselves.

• Four of the five actors from "1979" were brought back for the follow-up. The fifth actor was unavailable because he was in jail.

• The video was filmed in Los Angeles in July 1998, during the promotional campaign for the album "Adore."

• Fans were recruited to appear as extras during the shoot, with notices seeking participants for filming over a weekend.

• The performance footage was recorded at The Masque, a historic Los Angeles punk club, for a selected audience. The set included heavier songs such as "Where Boys Fear to Tread," "Bodies," and "Pug," which were not central to the band's live shows during the "Adore" era.

• The closing gag, in which a cassette falls from a car and is destroyed, references the notorious loss of the original "1979" video footage after tapes were accidentally left on top of a car.