Perfect

Billy has said that "Perfect" is a sequel to "1979". If "1979" is an expression of adolescent angst, then "Perfect" is an expression of being a lost and hollow 20 something.

My favorite lines to compare are:

No apologies ever need be made I know you better than you fake it

and

So far I still know who you are But now I wonder who I was

Think of your best friend from youth or your first love... it fits perfectly (at least for me.)

Billy loves this song and so do I. In fact it's may favorite pumpkins song even though I don't consider Adore to be half the album M.C. & I.S. is ;)

The ostensible meaning of this song is that it is a description of a relationship that has ended. The specifics of that relationship can be anything, but to me I would have to say that this song describes a relationship that was never an official boyfriend/girlfriend or marriage situation, just "lovers". "we are reasons so unreal we can't help but feel that something has been lost" Means that there's no real reason, but something has been lost. If they had been married or going steady then of course something has been lost because a serious relationship ended and he wouldn't be saying "we can't hel but feel..." These people had a fling or just had sex all the time and never had a real relationship. "we always we're so free we promised that we'd be perfect" They were always free, never tied down by the other. This can seem like the perfect type of relationship at first but it never is.

perfect, this song is perfect

Makes me want to cry, every time!

Someone may have mentioned this already, but this part:

perfect strangers when we meet strangers on the street lovers while we sleep

just depicts perfectly how one acts when they see an ex. You pretend like nothing ever occurred between you two, you are polite (maybe) to each other, its somewhat of an act, because, no matter how long it has been, you are lovers while you sleep, because you don't have much control over your dreams. You dream about that person from time to time, and the intense feelings that were felt in the relationship are still there if only in dreams.

This also could explain the lovers out of time line, because if you dream about the lover, its like there has been no time that has passed. The restrictions of time and space have little do do with one's unconscious and/or subconscious mind when the heart/emotion is involved.

i could be wrong, but has anyone ever noticed that Corgan doesn't play this song w/ the new members of pumpkins? He did it as an acoustic w/ Chamberlin on tambourine, but not the whole band. i kind of think it's about the 'original' bands relationship because they played 'perfect' live a LOT right before they split (i know it's not really original, they switch members a lot, but i mean the version that got famous). i mean...maybe it wasn't written initially for that, but i think that's what it was used as, kind of a goodbye. i don't know, just my theory. or it could be about jame's and d'arcy's relationship...who knows.

I had brain surgery, to the point where I forgot how to write....I forgot people's faces, but I could identify them by their voices...anyway. To me, this song explains perfectly my situation involving a potential boyfriend. I didn't remember specifics about what we did, but I remember hanging out with him a lot. He says I'm still the same, but he still feels that I'm a stranger. I can't help it. Perhaps we can try again, but I do not have romantic feelings for him.

I believe that this song is merely just about a couple who would have been perfect for each other but other things got int he way or they didn't realize it until later. And now they're waiting for the moment they are back together again when they will know what they had and it will be perfect and just how it should have been.

I think Corgan wrote this about his ex-wife, i can't remember her name Jennifer perhaps?

The important lines for me are

"angel, you know it's not the end we'll always be good friends the letters have been sent on "

I always imagine the letters being sent on are divorce papers and that he is telling her that they will still be good friends. I could be wrong but that's how i hear it.

i think this song is about a passing of a relationship. one they tried to salvage, but could not. hence the whole first verse. the chorus is touching on how they will take positive things from the relationship and the next time they find someone and commit as deeply as they have in this case, it will be 'perfect'. it's making light on a shitty situation.