Loaded Gun in the Closet Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Tedvi 

Cover art for Loaded Gun in the Closet lyrics by Drive-By Truckers

The gun is to keep that woman in her place. What is he is afraid of is that she will leave him. She knows it and that is why she is the too perfect wife that doesn't do anything but what he wants.

She and the gun are his property one and the same, and both are kept safe in their place. One will never leave without the other.

He's afraid that she'll leave her because he knows he doesn't deserve her, but he also knows that he needs her. He keeps a loaded gun in the closet because he knows that, since she is so wonderful, she would only ever actually leave him if she were incredibly angry, perhaps during an argument...angry enough to shoot him. If she ever leaves him, he wants her to kill him because he won't want to live.

Although perhaps he doesn't appreciate all she does for him, but he similarly does not appreciate his own life because he is with this...