Perhaps I'm mistaken, but given the snippet of lyrics:
"And his might is his legal right
To ground you down
Stepchild, with every petty swipe
You just might find you're fighting for your life"
implies that the stepchild was abused that thus the murder of her stepfather would be a crime of passion as a result. I guess it's pretty straightforward in that respect. I think this song means more when you reflect on it based upon Morrissey's other songs. He's always been interested in the origin and causes of a killer, it seems, and this is just one more stone on that pile, but this dealing more with the reactionary sort of murder, rather than the pure malice of a serial killer.
Other than that, I'd have to say that the stepchild has pretty much gone insane by the end of the song and that her decision to kill herself was not a really conscious decision. Rather, it seems more of a deal to end the pain. Sort of "I know there's nothing beyond here, but I can't live this life anymore.". As well as the fact that the girl seems to believe (or at least the narrators conveys that someone thinks it) that she's more of a mark of a failed marriage than a human being and that all people think of when they see her is how awful she is for having been a left over from a mistake her mother had made.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but given the snippet of lyrics: "And his might is his legal right To ground you down
Stepchild, with every petty swipe You just might find you're fighting for your life" implies that the stepchild was abused that thus the murder of her stepfather would be a crime of passion as a result. I guess it's pretty straightforward in that respect. I think this song means more when you reflect on it based upon Morrissey's other songs. He's always been interested in the origin and causes of a killer, it seems, and this is just one more stone on that pile, but this dealing more with the reactionary sort of murder, rather than the pure malice of a serial killer.
Other than that, I'd have to say that the stepchild has pretty much gone insane by the end of the song and that her decision to kill herself was not a really conscious decision. Rather, it seems more of a deal to end the pain. Sort of "I know there's nothing beyond here, but I can't live this life anymore.". As well as the fact that the girl seems to believe (or at least the narrators conveys that someone thinks it) that she's more of a mark of a failed marriage than a human being and that all people think of when they see her is how awful she is for having been a left over from a mistake her mother had made.
Just my thoughts. I do really like this song