Lyric discussion by virex7 

Cover art for To Forgive lyrics by Smashing Pumpkins, The

Such great posts before me---I agree with you all. One line in the song really does it for me though...

"empty party afternoons won't come back"

This line just elicits in my mind a time-faded picture of a child sitting alone in his backyard with a birthday cake, candles quietly burning out, a tear silently falls from an innocent eye as he waits for someone, anyone, to come spend a bit of time with him...this just perfectly defines the concept of loneliness (a reoccuring Pumpkins theme...in fact, one could make an argument that it is the PREVAILING Pumpkins theme).