On Post: My Boy Builds Coffins

Date: January 3, 2014

While the song itself makes the title and the lyrics downright compelling and more than a little spooky, in isolation, I could not help but imagine a woman bragging about her son to a less than on-board audience. I thought of in what context that might happen and came up with two ideas. One was amongst her other mother friends and the other was as an overly involved mom trying to “sell” a young woman on the idea of dating (but, really, marrying) her son. The latter seemed funnier to me, so that’s where I went.

For the ending—which is admittedly a joke that would work better when spoken by someone talented than it reads on the page—I kind of latched on the point that Florence + The Machine (and thus, the mom here) make about everyone needing a casket eventually. While that’s close to true, there are some exceptions, most prominently people who choose to be crucified without an open casket wake of any kind. From there, I realized that to this mom, that choice would be such an affront that she would take it deeply personal on her son’s (but, really, her) behalf and thus, the closing exchange.