If Things Were Perfect (4:17)

Vocals by Moby. Additional vocals by Reggie Matthews.

Contains a sample of “Hospital Prelude Of Love Theme” by Willie Hutch. This is uncredited in the album liner notes.

“Remember that band James? Before James became successful they put out some singles on Factory Records. One was called “Hymn From The Village” and “If Things Were Perfect” was the B side. For some reason I liked that title. So when I wrote and recorded this song, even though there’s no relationship between the title and the song, I just gave it that name. I don’t know why. Sort of an homage to James even though the song sounds nothing like James. I did meet Tim Booth in a nightclub once and he was telling me he quit music to teach yoga. That’s one of the spoken-word songs. That’s the one that was directly inspired by walking around Chinatown, the two bridges area, at like 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s the most New Yorky song on the record.” - Moby (rollingstone.com)