I interpretation is that she was sent away for a few years to a mental institution. When she is released, she has a list of names of the people that testified against her to put her in an institution. When she has a book and a box of tools, it's a book on how to build an arsonist device and a box of tools to build it. At the end, she enacts her arson plan, then takes the kids and leaves town. The ironic part is that if she thinks up stuff like that, she really did belong in an institution. I see no mention of spousal abuse in the song or video.
I interpretation is that she was sent away for a few years to a mental institution. When she is released, she has a list of names of the people that testified against her to put her in an institution. When she has a book and a box of tools, it's a book on how to build an arsonist device and a box of tools to build it. At the end, she enacts her arson plan, then takes the kids and leaves town. The ironic part is that if she thinks up stuff like that, she really did belong in an institution. I see no mention of spousal abuse in the song or video.