Prior to the clinching end scene, the singer stops at various pieces of furniture, such as an easy chair and their marital bed, to reflect on fond memories of better times. ") with foreshadowing to set the final stop on the stroll-one of the nursery, where the singer's wife "left me without mercy, taking nothing but her baby and my heart".
Throughout the song, the lyrics mix the singer's tour of a home that once held many personal, private, and happy memories ("Step right up, come on in. Malone, in his liner notes for Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection, called it a "perfect matching of lyrics and performance" and "one of the great modern songs of divorce". The song is widely hailed as one of the finest performances in country music history.