If Perfect Days is a film about the beauty of routine and the poetry of the everyday, then its soundtrack is its emotional compass. It is subtle, nostalgic, and deeply human. Wim Wenders doesn’t use music simply to decorate scenes. Instead, he uses it to illuminate the inner life of Hirayama, a man of few words but deep feeling.

Music as Memory, Music as Ritual

At the heart of the film’s sonic world is Hirayama’s treasured collection of cassette tapes. Each track feels less like a soundtrack choice and more like a fragment of the character himself. These songs are not playing in the background. They are essential to how Hirayama navigates the world. They are his memories and quiet joys.

“These aren’t songs chosen by a director. They feel like songs chosen by the character — small, imperfect windows into his soul.”

The Role of Iconic Tracks

Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” gently bookends the film. The title serves both as irony and truth. Hirayama’s days are repetitive and quiet. Yet within that repetition, there is peace, and even beauty. Reed’s lyrics, full of longing and ambiguity, reflect this understated complexity.

Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” plays like an act of quiet rebellion, a moment when Hirayama allows himself to feel more than just contentment. The song isn’t used as a big moment. It simply exists, like the light through the trees, reminding us that joy often hides in plain sight.

“House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals introduces a note of melancholy. Unlike the other tracks, it suggests a life with shadows. We never fully learn Hirayama’s backstory, but the song implies a past full of decisions and perhaps regrets. The music fills in the blanks without ever needing to explain.

A Curated Life

The soundtrack of Perfect Days is more than nostalgic. It is intimate. These tracks span rock, soul, and folk, forming a quiet but powerful emotional thread. Each one is carefully placed, not to move the plot forward, but to slow the viewer down and bring them into Hirayama’s world.

Wenders has always had a deep connection with music in film. Here, he reminds us that the songs we carry are often more honest than words. The soundtrack invites us to listen closely to the music, to the silence, and to ourselves.