I think this is a song about love in a dysfunctional relationship. The "Ultimate Fling" is a persistently loveless marriage. From the line about "licking the muck from the soles of the boots of your pride" the narrator is telling us that their relationship dynamic is dominant/submissive. Note that the roles in the song are irrespective of gender. The narrator could as easily be Mr. Nice Guy as an insecure woman.
The first stanza is the narrator suggesting that the couple fights and argues routinely. The narrator's opposite is quick to place the blame for the problems of their relationship on the narrator and the narrator responds with sarcasm. The narrator admits that he really does see himself as part of the problem when using the phrase "ashtrays filled with the fruit OUR transgressions". The sitcom (i.e. pathetic comedy) reruns day after day almost as if they enjoy comedic drama.
In the second stanza, the submissive narrator is looking for a reason to leave the relationship. However, he's too insecure to leave and instead keeps turning his cheek and threatening to leave but never does.
Love is blinding. The narrator's love for his partner covers her flaws and blinds the narrator to the manipulative and arbitrary cruelty (i.e. "my own kindhearted of just who we are"). The narrator runs away from his marriage vows but then always comes back against his better judgment.
The "blood hound of no better pedigree" is the narrator admiring to himself that he has a nose for sniffing out conflict and may be out for blood. Clearly he's not merely the victim of abuse - he's also out for blood (as a dog strikes out instinctively and violently when slighted).
"I'm moving into grace, something I can hold on, at the end of the day" is my favorite phrase in the song. It is the narrator trying to be kind and compassionate (i.e. fighting the animal instinct to attack). The phrase is also double entente. The narrator is using also using the term "grace" to symbolize praying for answers as to how he can be a more satisfactory partner.
In the end, the cycle repeats with the chorus repeating with the narrator threatening to leave "Someone's gotta pay" (the animal retaliation) followed by "ask yourself just how lucky do you feel?" (i.e. the narrator makes himself a target for abuse by threatening to leave but never having the courage to act.
Luv,
I think this is a song about love in a dysfunctional relationship. The "Ultimate Fling" is a persistently loveless marriage. From the line about "licking the muck from the soles of the boots of your pride" the narrator is telling us that their relationship dynamic is dominant/submissive. Note that the roles in the song are irrespective of gender. The narrator could as easily be Mr. Nice Guy as an insecure woman.
The first stanza is the narrator suggesting that the couple fights and argues routinely. The narrator's opposite is quick to place the blame for the problems of their relationship on the narrator and the narrator responds with sarcasm. The narrator admits that he really does see himself as part of the problem when using the phrase "ashtrays filled with the fruit OUR transgressions". The sitcom (i.e. pathetic comedy) reruns day after day almost as if they enjoy comedic drama.
In the second stanza, the submissive narrator is looking for a reason to leave the relationship. However, he's too insecure to leave and instead keeps turning his cheek and threatening to leave but never does.
Love is blinding. The narrator's love for his partner covers her flaws and blinds the narrator to the manipulative and arbitrary cruelty (i.e. "my own kindhearted of just who we are"). The narrator runs away from his marriage vows but then always comes back against his better judgment.
The "blood hound of no better pedigree" is the narrator admiring to himself that he has a nose for sniffing out conflict and may be out for blood. Clearly he's not merely the victim of abuse - he's also out for blood (as a dog strikes out instinctively and violently when slighted).
"I'm moving into grace, something I can hold on, at the end of the day" is my favorite phrase in the song. It is the narrator trying to be kind and compassionate (i.e. fighting the animal instinct to attack). The phrase is also double entente. The narrator is using also using the term "grace" to symbolize praying for answers as to how he can be a more satisfactory partner.
In the end, the cycle repeats with the chorus repeating with the narrator threatening to leave "Someone's gotta pay" (the animal retaliation) followed by "ask yourself just how lucky do you feel?" (i.e. the narrator makes himself a target for abuse by threatening to leave but never having the courage to act.