See You in Another Life (Shanghai Breezes, John Denver)

"See you in another life, yeah?"
- Desmond, Orientation

By the end of the season two finale, disoriented Scotsman Desmond had become one of my favorite characters on LOST. In the beginning of the season, he seemed totally unhinged in Island times but sage and serene in Jack's flashback. When I first saw him taking five with Jack in those bleachers, I had no idea how important and beloved he would become. Here's a reflection by Desmond just before his first departure from the Island, with just a hint of season six thrown in, to the tune of John Denver's Shanghai Breezes.

See You In Another Life

Promise me that if, by some strange miracle,
The computer starts to work again,
You’ll cast away your pride. Oh, Jack, don’t be a fool.
Don’t wait; it will be too late then.
You want to see what happens when the clock runs out?
I hope by then I’m far away.
First, a little something to reduce your doubt:
We were running buddies in L. A.

I remember you now from Los Angeles, mate,
About to take the surgeon’s knife.
My meeting you here feels a whole lot like fate,
So I’ll see you in another life.

Learn the numbers. They start with a four and an eight.
There’s fifteen and then sixteen, too.
And these numbers, the ones I so thoroughly hate,
End twenty-three, forty-two.
I’m sorry that the woman who I helped you save
Is not wed to you anymore.
Brother, let it go. The consequences will be grave
If you don’t perform this little chore.

I remember you now from Los Angeles, mate,
About to take the surgeon’s knife.
And my meeting you here feels a whole lot like fate,
So I’ll see you in another life.

In another life, I’ll see you,
No doubt in my mind.
In another life, I’m key to
Unearthing what you yearn to find.

I remember you now from Los Angeles, mate,
About to take the surgeon’s knife.
And my meeting you here feels a whole lot like fate,
So I’ll see you in another life.

I remember you now from Los Angeles, mate,
About to take the surgeon’s knife.
And my meeting you here feels a whole lot like fate,
So I’ll see you in another life.
Yes, I will see you in another life.

Shangai Breezes