At the start of the song we are given a portrayal of an ageing man's life: they feel they have nothing more to give, no purpose and have lost touch with loved ones. There is a dull inevitability to the passing of time.
Then the man get taken to hospital to die ('a room too clean and too bright'). Whilst they are there, they are visited by a couple (presumably an adult child and their spouse). There follows an awkward hour of staring as no one knows what to say. In the dying man's eyes, they see no hope of an afterlife but nothing but tears. Early the next morning they receive a call to say that their relative has died.
A song about an elderly person dying.
At the start of the song we are given a portrayal of an ageing man's life: they feel they have nothing more to give, no purpose and have lost touch with loved ones. There is a dull inevitability to the passing of time.
Then the man get taken to hospital to die ('a room too clean and too bright'). Whilst they are there, they are visited by a couple (presumably an adult child and their spouse). There follows an awkward hour of staring as no one knows what to say. In the dying man's eyes, they see no hope of an afterlife but nothing but tears. Early the next morning they receive a call to say that their relative has died.