Nobody's Perfect
Listen
YouTube
Lyrics
Lyrics meaning
The lyrics contrast an ideal image of goodness with the ordinary limits of being human. The repeated claim that it is hard to be an โangelโ suggests that someone who expects purity or perfection may feel disappointed by a flawed world. The song then shifts toward acceptance: people are imperfect, and โwe are what we are.โ Its tone is partly sympathetic, but also gently challenging.
โAngelโ and โdevil in your heartโ are opposing images for goodness and inner trouble. They may describe someone who wants to do right but is held back by difficult feelings, or someone judged against an impossible standard. โThe world has let you downโ suggests disappointment with other people or life, while โno perfect reasonโ and โno perfect rhymeโ imply that life does not always offer neat explanations or solutions. The repeated phrase โnobodyโs perfectโ is a familiar way to remind people not to expect flawlessness.
The lyrics also seem to defend human worth: a person should be seen as valuable even if they are imperfect. The speakerโs request to the โgentlemenโ sounds like an appeal for others to agree, though the exact situation is not explained. The โangelโ could refer to a particular person, or more broadly to anyone held to unrealistic standards. Overall, the song can be heard both as a call for compassion and as a reminder to accept the imperfect reality of ourselves and others.