I'm not sure if this idea has been floated before (if so, I apologize in advance for stepping on any toes), but I thought of the following last night as I listened to RHS for the umpteenth time. What if RHS is, on some subconscious level, Willie's metaphor for his own career at the time? Up 'til this album, Willie had released a few albums as a recording artist, with varying degrees of success. Indeed, Willie's success had primarily been as a songwriter only (Hello Walls, Crazy, Night Life, etc.). Willie had also been frustrated with the lack of creative control he was allowed due to the restrictions of the "Nashville Sound" that artists were expected to adhere to at that time.
My interpretation is that the Preacher represented "Outlaw Willie-" the Willie he, deep down, felt himself to be. The adulterous wife represented "Nashville Willie-" the Willie he had tried to be in order to achieve success during his time writing and recording in Music City. The other man of the story represented the Nashville Country Music Establishment who seduced him into trying to be something he, as a performer, wasn't. The new lady that the Preacher takes up with toward the end of the story, I feel, represents the way he hoped his fans would feel toward himself and the new musical direction he was embarking upon. The Preacher's murder of his wife and the "other man" represented Willie's need to "kill off" Nashville Willie in order to move in the direction he wished. It also represented his deep desire to stick it to the Nashville Country Establishment who, as he must have seen it, held him back by persuading him to "go along to get along."
Or, quite possibly, I just have way too much time on my hands...
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