Last Flowers

The title says it all, really-- "Last Flowers to the Hospital" suggests a final visit with a loved one who is dying.

Even while you're dying, life goes on around you, and there are always those regular annoyances that must be dealt with. A coffeemaker will still give you hell, and kids can be so oblivious to any suffering happening around them. "I can't face the evening straight" says that there's too much pain and horror to contemplate-- he needs painkillers, or a drink, or anything, just to get by. This person needs company. He misses home, and would give anything to go someplace familiar, where the nightmare can become a little less real. He doesn't have much energy left for speech, and doesn't even know if he can-- so when he's ready to let it out, he won't want to be judged, or have to waste precious energy arguing. These bright hospital lights are overpowering, as is the stark reality of life and death.

I'm reminded of another hospital song, "T.B Sheets," by Van Morrison. That song is framed in such a way that it's about the visitor, who can hardly stand around and watch his beloved suffer. I'm pretty sure "Last Flowers" is about the one who is dying, but it could be flipped to be about the visitor too.