DEEP PURPLE - PERFECT STRANGERS

PERFECT STRANGERS

DEEP PURPLE

SONGWRITERS: IAN GILLAN; RITCHIE BLACKMORE & ROGER D GLOVER

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: PERFECT STRANGERS

LABEL: POLYDOR RECORDS

GENRE: HEAVY METAL

YEAR: 1984

 

        Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, but their musical approach has changed over the years. Originally formed as a psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

        Deep Purple have had several line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus(1976–1984). The 1968–1976 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up consisted of Ian Gillan(vocals) and Roger Glover(bass), who joined founder members Jon Lord(keyboards), Ian Paice(drums) and Ritchie Blackmore(guitar). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973 and was revived from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1992 to 1993. The band achieved more modest success in the intervening periods between 1968 and 1969 with the line-up including Rod Evans (lead vocals) and Nick Simper(bass, backing vocals), between 1974 and 1976 with the line-up including David Coverdale(lead vocals) and Glenn Hughes(bass, vocals)(and Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore in 1975), and between 1989 and 1992 with the line-up including Joe Lynn Turner(vocals). The band's line-up (currently including Ian Gillan, and guitarist Steve Morse from 1994) has been much more stable in recent years, although keyboardist Jon Lord's retirement from the band in 2002 (being succeeded by Don Airey) left Ian Paice as the last original Deep Purple member still in the band.

   Deep Purple was ranked number 22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, and a poll on radio station Planet Rock ranked them 5th among the "most influential bands ever". The band received the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards. Deep Purple (specifically Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover, Coverdale, Evans, and Hughes) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

         "Perfect Strangers" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the title track of their 1984 comeback álbum Perfect Strangers.

          It is one of the few Deep Purple compositions to not feature a guitar solo. Nevertheless, founding band member and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has called it his favorite Deep Purple song.

Can you remember, remember my name?

As I flow through your life

A thousand oceans I have flown

And cold spirits of ice

All my life I am the echo of your past (echo of your past)

 

I am returning the echo of a point in time

Distant faces shine

A thousand warriors I have known

And laughing as the spirits appear

All your, 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 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

Oh, is aching with the dead of the night

Oh oh 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.