raising the dead

Today I started to raise the dead raised beds. They are totally overgrown, and look like a neglected graveyard.  I really can't see the point of raised beds.  Proper two feet high ones for disabled people, or for long rooted vegetables, yes.  However in my view there is little advantage in raising the earth by 5 inches.  It might look tidy but that's about it.  Actually raised beds always remind me of freshly dug graves.  Especially the little ones you can buy in kit form in garden centres.  The annexed allotment has 9 of these graves, although they are home made from old bits of decking.  It probably took a long time to do, but new life is pushing them up from the earth, helped by an Irishman's shovel.