The Hamlet Project

Does this mean that they shaved the beards off of corpses? That would be a very odd funeral ritual – but I could make up some reasons for it. For example, maybe in returning someone to the earth, it makes sense to have him looking more like the younger man – the boy. The beard being a signifier of age and power, to shave it at death would be a relinquishing of both those things. Or maybe the family could knit a sweater out of the beard and treasure it once the man is gone. Or in some families, they make a nest with it – which they place near the grave so birds will roost there and watch over their loved one.
Or – it’s also probably pretty likely that this song doesn’t mean that he’s without a beard…it probably means without a shroud over his face. But still….