Songfacts®:

• "Perfect Man" is Teddy Swims' soul-baring anthem about self-forgiveness. It finds him letting go of the impossible standards he set for himself as a partner, father, and public figure.
  
  "In my life, I've held myself to a standard that is completely unrealistic," said Swims. "I've been too hard on myself as a partner, as a father, and in feeling the responsibility that comes with knowing there are people who rely on and look up to me."
  
  He hopes people can "lean into our shortcomings and have an open dialogue about them rather than trying to hide them," because "the beauty of chasing perfection is knowing we will never reach it."
• The track stems from the aftermath of Swims' relationship with singer Raiche Wright, the mother of his child. He calls her "the perfect woman" and admits she "deserves someone I know I can never be." The song lays bare the guilt, regret, and self-doubt that lingered after the breakup.
• "Perfect Man" arrived as Swims' third single of 2026, following "Mr. Know It All" and "Break Up In Reverse." The three tracks share a lyric callback built around imagery of his hands.
  
  In "Mr. Know It All," Swims worries that an ex will never "end up fallin' back in my hands."
  
  In "Break Up in Reverse," he dreams of her slipping "back into my hands."
  
  By "Perfect Man," she slips "right through my hands." The progression uses that simple physical gesture to track his changing grip on love, from holding on and wishing for a rewind to accepting that it's gone.
• Teddy Swims wrote "Perfect Man" alongside Julian Bunetta, Mikky Ekko, Matt Zara, Kendrick Nicholls, Alex Izquierdo, and Edgar Barrera. Production was handled by the duo Afterhrs, Bunetta, and Zara.
  
  Bunetta is one of Swims' core collaborators. The two started working together in January 2020, with Bunetta co-writing and co-producing Swims' massive breakout hit " Lose Control, " a track whose slow-burn path to the top of the charts led Bunetta to joke it was a "three-year overnight success."
  
  "Perfect Man" also reunites Swims with returning I've Tried Everything But Therapy contributors Mikky Ekko, Matt Zara and Kendrick Nicholls; and brings back Alex Izquierdo and Afterhrs, who have previously worked in Swims's orbit.
  
  The song is Swims' first collaboration with hitmaker Edgar Barrera. Barrera's wide-ranging resume spans Latin pop (Karol G's "Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido"), regional Mexican hits (Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny's "Un x100to"), and mainstream pop crossovers (Ariana Grande and Social House's "Boyfriend").