In Charles Edison’s Florence, lyrics become a scorching personal reflection on the subjects of love, remorse, and the lasting imprint of a grandmother’s life. Charles speaks in plain language of complicated emotions, and the song is affecting simply because there are no poetic or theatrical embellishments in that language. The lyrics are nakedly sincere as if he is stating all of these things to Florence in an argument full of everything he never expressed to her while she lived.

The song’s lyrics begin by describing the kind of central role Florence had in Charles’ life growing up. His father worked all the time and his mother left the family at a very young age, so Florence was something more than just a grandmother — she was a caretaker, a guardian, and figure in his life. This first half of the song is giving listeners an accurate representation of just how woven she was into his life. The fact that he mentions that he wished that he hugged her more or that he told her he loved her more is setting the tone for the rest of the song. The lyrics don’t read like clichés but rather deeper regrets that most people will be able to relate to.

Charles doesn’t flinch from any of the unflattering realities. He takes responsibility for having been absent from Florence in her illness, describing the ways in which his addiction led to his absence. The truth is hard to refute in those words. Instead of dwelling in mere sadness or despair, he acknowledges the complicated emotions of regretfulness, shame, and disappointment in himself. But he doesn’t leave it there — he pairs those emotions with moments of love and thanksgiving in writing an eulogy that is multi-dimensional and quintessentially human.

Most affecting is perhaps the line in which Charles laments having lost Florence’s voice. This desire to save everything else – the flavor of biscuits, of tea – that is kept in other people’s smiles in his nieces’ faces is just the way in which mourning is always present in small, mundane things. It is less that you miss the person but rather that you miss the entire world that she filled. Even something as fundamental as the smell of toast and cigarettes is elevated to the level of symbol.

Charles is aware as well of the way Florence contributed to raising him every summer of his boyhood. It is clear that she filled in for his mother when she was absent. That chain of mothering from his father’s mother is instructive – it speaks to the fact that family is less about titles but effort and love that people put in to caring for each other.

Charles speaks of his father as his hero and of how he wishes Florence might have lived to see him married. Keeping her photo in his pocket is an indication that he wishes she might be included in the milestones of his life. All of these lyrics are full of small moments of remembrance that say so much more than any grand gesture could do.

The closing lines of the song are especially poignant. He recalls the way Florence reacted to the fact that she had just months to live. She accepts it quietly — “if it weren’t this, it’d be something else” — in a strength and wisdom that clearly left its imprint on Charles. The imagery brings the whole song full-circle again to remind the listener that courage nests within memory, regret, and love. In Florence, Charles Edison gives us an affecting portrayal of an unsettled period of his life. The song is bare lyrically, direct, and intensely emotive, and it’s an affecting tribute that’s as much an honor to Florence’s existence as it is to the indomitable affection between grandson and granny.