Perfect Circle (1982 Live Version)

Don't get me wrong, I love the album version of Perfect Circle, I think it is one of Murmur's strongest songs, but there is something about the early live version, played at The Strand in 1982, that I find hauntingly good. Hearing this I think Perfect Circle could have gone in a completely different direction and still have been a great song but probably no longer suited to Murmur.

The live version features Bill Berry taking a break from the drum kit to switch on a casio keyboard for the rest of the band to join in when they are ready. There is no piano and much more emphasis on strummed guitar. It's also very slightly faster which I think does the song no harm (I particularly like the tempo of the song played live on the Green Tour - see Tourfilm).

What I've tried to do here is produce a version of how the song might have sounded if it were recorded in the style of its earlier live version.