Chance

To me its about a woman who escaped an abusive/threatening father with what she though was her dream man who sweet talked her with visions of happiness. The man married her, she had 2 children and then he left her on her own with the 2 boys. She left 1 bad relationship and entered another beleiving it would improve her life. Now shes alone and depressed. Another interpretation would be the mass pilgrimage from Scotlands steel works to Corby in England in the 80's when thousands left with the promise of long term jobs and better lives and then the industry folded leaving numerous Scot's stranded in Corby.

About someone choosing the wrong partner?

Seems to be about relocating to a different town than previously known. A relationship that didn't work. Trying to guess what the next chapter is for those mentioned.

5000 years of misogyny and women leap from one awful relationship to another believing that's all they deserve. This is summarised in the fabulous song.

I interpret it as a young woman who was mistreated by her father. She meets a man who superficially represented an escape and seemingly promised a lifetime of happiness, a steady income and a roof over their heads etc. She moves to a new town to be with him, they have two kids, and then he leaves her, maybe after an affair or because he wasn't the man of her dreams she imagined him to be, and the family fell apart. Either way, she's left alone as a single mother, wondering what happened before realising she took a gamble to escape her unhappy home life ("Because you played chance with a lifetime's romance And the price was far too long") only to end up in an equally unhappy, if not worse situation. Depressing and hard-hitting lyrics, but a great track.