I think of this as from the perspective of the male, and (unlike lmac5) I think it's HE who is feeling bad and guilty on "the long ride home" about all the times when he was cruel, or indifferent, etc. "How hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead?" So they had a typically ordinary marriage, not deleriously happy, probably economically tough. Good days and bad days. But in the end, he wishes he'd been kinder, and when he arrives at home for teh first time without her, he finds the house "as empty as the inside of me." In the end, curiously, it is a beautiful, if sad, love song.
I think of this as from the perspective of the male, and (unlike lmac5) I think it's HE who is feeling bad and guilty on "the long ride home" about all the times when he was cruel, or indifferent, etc. "How hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead?" So they had a typically ordinary marriage, not deleriously happy, probably economically tough. Good days and bad days. But in the end, he wishes he'd been kinder, and when he arrives at home for teh first time without her, he finds the house "as empty as the inside of me." In the end, curiously, it is a beautiful, if sad, love song.