Sony Nabs Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ for PlayStation 4 Commercial

For video game enthusiasts the world over, the thought of spending an entire day indoors and engaging in medieval sword fights, blasting robots with lasers or racing through the streets in a souped-up sports car is, well, perfect. It's fitting, then, that Sony chose Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' as the soundtrack for its new PlayStation 4 commercial.

In the spot, sword-swinging knights, daredevil racers and futuristic soldiers sing Reed's song to each other, and the sweetness of the lyrics is meant to contrast the violence of their actions. It's an effective juxtaposition, but it also works on a level Sony's ad division might not have intended.

Appearing on Lou's 1972 classic 'Transformer,' 'Perfect Day' is a tune about partaking of such outdoor pleasures as visiting the zoo and knocking back "sangria in the park." The ex-Velvet Underground frontman sings with an air of melancholy, but it's because the day he describes has either come and gone or is fundamentally unattainable. It's a romantic idea, and the mere thought of it keeps the narrator "hanging on."

Reed was 30 years when 'Perfect Day' came out, and nowadays, sadly, few folks that age would find delight in the scenario he sings about. They'd rather park themselves in front of a PlayStation 4 and escape off to pixelated lands of make-believe. After all, once you've experienced Grand Theft Auto, those monkeys at the zoo just aren't that exciting. Even the ones with the funny pink butts.

It's doubtful Sony meant the commercial as a commentary on our tech-obsessed culture, but either way, PlayStation 4 arrives on Nov. 15, 2013, a day that will undoubtedly be perfect. Expect long lines at the GameStop, short lines at the zoo and a few more bucks in Reed's bank account.