Lyric discussion by DBT dad 

Cover art for Space City lyrics by Drive-By Truckers

Looking east from Florence, Alabama and about an hours drive, you can see the big white light from Huntsville a.k.a. Space City. Really bright with a raising full moon.

A lonely man in a big empty house missing his wife who has passed on. He keeps her grave stone clean and wishes he could join her in heaven.

I think the third verse refers to using his hands proudly for hard work but never striking or hitting his deceased wife. Now he is ashamed for hurting her with words which were just as bad as beating her.

I think you're exactly right, with one exception. He isn't keeping his wife's grave clean. Actually he says he wishes he was tough enough to go to her grave and keep it clean, but he's not as tough as he pretends to be.