Payne is actually fairly right. Except maybe about the fume sex thing. Though one can hope.
The song is about being in a relationship that is bordering on emotionally abusive. Though the narrator and his (wife presumably) are going through the motions of life together (painting a room - nursery maybe? possibly, in light of the nest lines), they are only barely communicating - only discussing the bare essentials they need to function: "You do the rolling, I'll do the detail."
The verses are his inner monologue as they work. "With you its spiders, For you its me" is pretty obvious in that he feels anything he does is enough to set her off. "Thugs in perpetuity" is him thinking this is all there is: they are destined to beat each other up forever. "The cat's indifferent or he's just furious. It seems that he's never neither" is a pretty damn accurate description of what it's like being with someone who is depressed or passive-aggressive in a relationship.
The second verse is him wondering why they are together in the first place. She chose him as the one to build her nest with... But was it because she thought he was the best qualified, or was it literally because she liked his hair the best?
Finally, he's just thinking what comes down to the heart of the matter: "Ruby, honey are you mad at your man?"
Payne is actually fairly right. Except maybe about the fume sex thing. Though one can hope.
The song is about being in a relationship that is bordering on emotionally abusive. Though the narrator and his (wife presumably) are going through the motions of life together (painting a room - nursery maybe? possibly, in light of the nest lines), they are only barely communicating - only discussing the bare essentials they need to function: "You do the rolling, I'll do the detail."
The verses are his inner monologue as they work. "With you its spiders, For you its me" is pretty obvious in that he feels anything he does is enough to set her off. "Thugs in perpetuity" is him thinking this is all there is: they are destined to beat each other up forever. "The cat's indifferent or he's just furious. It seems that he's never neither" is a pretty damn accurate description of what it's like being with someone who is depressed or passive-aggressive in a relationship.
The second verse is him wondering why they are together in the first place. She chose him as the one to build her nest with... But was it because she thought he was the best qualified, or was it literally because she liked his hair the best?
Finally, he's just thinking what comes down to the heart of the matter: "Ruby, honey are you mad at your man?"
More info on what some of the lyrics are referencing is out here... http://hipmuseum.com/thugs.html
Ruby, honey are you mad at your man - is a from a 1971 Buck Owens song
Ruby, honey are you mad at your man - is a from a 1971 Buck Owens song