Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Careful Flyin' (Carefree Highway, Gordon Lightfoot)

"Doesn't matter who I am, you're showing footage of Seth Norris and that's not him, listen, this guy married his high school sweetheart at nineteen, he always wore his wedding ring and I'm telling you there's no ring on that body."
- Frank, Confirmed Dead

Frank Lapidus is a guy who prides himself on a job well done. His obsession over the fate of Flight 815 suggests that he has a guilty conscience and probably believes that if he'd been at the controls, the plane wouldn't have crashed. Here's a little reflection by him, circa Confirmed Dead, to the tune of Gordon Lightfoot's Carefree Highway.

Careful Flyin’

Slept through my alarm clock on the September day
That Oceanic 815 went down.
Now every night, I see that flight and how it went astray.
This is the conclusion I have drawn:

Careful flyin’s what I pride myself upon -
Careful flyin’ through a hostile sky -
And with my expertise, I’d’ve handled ‘er with ease.
Careful flyin’s what I pride myself, pride myself upon.

Starin’ through the static at the scene on the screen,
I think the sunken wreck looks pretty grim.
But they’re showin’ me Seth Norris, who got married at nineteen.
So where’s his ring? I’ll go out on a limb:

Someone’s lyin’. I guarantee ya that ain’t him.
Someone’s lyin’, and I wonder why.
Whatever’s in that Trench has a rotten sort of stench.
Someone’s lyin’. Do ya understand? Listen, that ain’t him.

Sick of feelin’ bad that if I’d been on my toes,
I could’ve flown ’em safe into the dawn.
To lift that weight, I’ll concentrate on tryin’ to expose
Just exactly where Flight 815 has gone.

Careful flyin’s what I pride myself upon -
Careful flyin’ through a hostile sky -
And with my expertise, I’d’ve handled ‘er with ease.
Careful flyin’s what I pride myself, pride myself upon.
What I pride myself upon.

Someone’s lyin’. Guarantee ya that ain’t him.
Someone’s lyin’, and I wonder why.
Whatever’s in that Trench has a rotten sort of stench.
Someone’s lyin’. Ya understand? Listen, that ain’t him.


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