Songfacts®:

• "Forgiveness" is part of Sarah McLachlan's 2010 album Laws of Illusion, her first since Afterglow in 2003. In the years between, the Canadian singer-songwriter had her second child and went through a divorce. On the album, McLachlan looks at love from both sides. Regarding this song, she said: "'Forgiveness' is about the loss of a relationship and drawing a line in the sand, saying: This is not good for me and I can't do it anymore."
• Not all the songs on Laws of Illusion deal with McLachlan's separation from her husband and father of their two children, Ashwin Sood. She told Spinner UK, "I've said things in songs in the past that I perhaps shouldn't have. A song like 'Forgiveness,' for example. If my ex hears that, it's going to gut him. It's not about him, I wrote the chorus seven years ago, but the obvious conclusion to draw is that it's about him."