When It Ends (A Face That Shone, Michael Card)

"My ashes are right there in that fire... When it burns out, you’ll never see me again."- Jacob, What They Died For

LOST is so filled with wonderful characters, and I love nearly all of them, but there will always be an extra special place in my heart for Jacob and Hurley. In the great epics, this always tends to be my favorite pair: the wise mentor and the loving, humble apostle. Gandalf and Sam. Dumbledore and Hagrid. Aslan and Lucy. Granted, Aslan is something More than those others, Jacob included. But Jacob reflects the light in a powerful way, and Hurley feels a deep sense of connection to him. I was very saddened by Jacob's words to Hurley in What They Died For. I thought of Lucy leaving Narnia in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I anticipate this parting being equally difficult for Hurley. But even as he dreads the loss, his chief concern is harmony, and something tells me this Star Wars geek holds the key to a satisfying resolution. Here's Hurley to the tune of Michael Card's A Face That Shone.

When It Ends

Though Richard raved and ranted to Jack on the Black Rock,
I was sure that we should follow, for we’re Jacob’s chosen flock.
I knew it from the moment he blessed me with his touch.
When he gave me that guitar case, his assurance meant so much.

He met me at the Temple, and he helped me find the stone
That hid a secret passage to a lighthouse long unknown.
Jacob never acted like he thought that I would fail.
I began to think that maybe the light of kindness could prevail.

So when it ends, I will feel I’ve lost a father,
A faithful friend who believed that I had worth.
But when it ends, I will know that I would rather
Have been blessed to briefly know him.
I’ve been searching for him since my birth.

He brought us to the Island. We became his flustered flock,
And he’s charged us now with stopping his old friend who looks like Locke.
Oh, I know that he’s a monster and he really isn’t John,
But he used to be his brother. That part of him’s not gone.

Jacob said he’d try to kill us and we would need to guard the light,
But reconciliation’s the best end to this fight.
We’ll somehow find the balance so the conflict can be done.
Like Anakin and Luke, the fractured family will be one.

And when it ends, I will feel I’ve lost a father,
A faithful friend who believed that I had worth.
But when it ends, I still will know that I would rather
Have been blessed to briefly know him.
I’ve been seeking him since birth.

He said to me, “You’ll never see me once it’s ended.
I’ll have to go, but you will know you have my love.
You’ll bear the light, and everyone who you’ve befriended
Will snatch a spark, and they’ll be mended both from within and from above.”

And when it ends, I will feel I’ve lost a father,
A faithful friend who believed that I had worth.
But when it ends, I still will know that I would rather
Have been blessed to briefly know him.
I’ve been seeking him since birth.

A Face That Shone

Alex's Grave (The Minstrel of Cranberry Lane, Michael and Judy Callahan)

"It's Alex... It's your daughter... After you left, I buried her."
- Richard, What They Died For


One of my favorite parts of What They Died For was the small scene in which Richard tells Ben that he buried Alex. It was such a testament to his decency and his long friendship with Ben. Additionally, I've been thinking a lot about Jacob as an Obi-Wan figure and his brother as akin to Anakin, and I've decided that Richard is like Yoda: old, wise, spending most of his life as an adviser. He's certainly acted as a mentor to Ben, and here I see him using this as one last teaching moment as he differentiates between violence for the sake of vengeance and for the sake of eradicating evil. Here's Richard, to the tune of the Irish Rovers' The Minstrel of Cranberry Lane.

Alex’s Grave

I have a confession to make.
I hope it helps ease your ache.
See, our friend here has found
Where I laid her in the ground.
We’re standing on Alex’s grave.

I heard the news, and I grieved
To think of your being bereaved
And remembered her wings
When she soared on these swings.
We’re standing on Alex’s grave.

Though I have felt the weight of grief
And the wrath that enticed me to kill,
It’s best to restrain every urge to cause pain,
To exert our virtue and will.

Ben, I know that has never been easy for you.
I’ve been trying to teach you for years.
Yes, I’ve told you that hate is a deadly drug
That only will lead to more tears.

But foiling the Devil could free us from Hell,
So let’s collect some C-4.
Although violence is wrong, it is time for the end.
It’s time we concluded the war.

We’ve gone through our ups and our downs,
With our laughs less abundant than frowns.
But you always will be important to me.
We’re standing on Alex’s grave.

Yes, you always will be important to me.
We’re standing on Alex’s grave.

The Minstrel of Cranberry Lane

Hush, Little Aaron (Hush, Little Baby, Traditional)

During the first couple of months of his life, Aaron had all sorts of people around him to try to keep him quiet and happy. Here's a little lullaby about that, to the tune of Anne Murray's version of Hush, Little Baby.

Hush, Little Aaron

Hush, little Aaron, don’t be so blue.
Charlie’s gonna play his guitar for you.
And if his guitar pops a string,
Claire is gonna hold you and softly sing.
And if her singing voice is hoarse,
Hurley’s gonna stand still and use the Force.
And if his Jedi juice is tapped,
Sawyer’s lilting reading will leave you rapt.
And if his reading glasses break,
Jack is gonna check for a stomachache.
And if he learns that you're not sickly,
John is gonna find out if you are tickly.
And if you're scared because he is scarred,
Michael’s gonna draw you a funny card.
And if that doesn’t make you smile,
You’ll still be the sweetest baby on the whole isle.

Communication (The Blues Run the Game, Jackson Frank)

"In Empire, Luke found out Vader was his father, but instead of putting away his light saber and talking about it, he overreacted and got his hand cut off. I mean, they worked it out eventually, but at what cost? Another Death Star was destroyed, Boba Fett got eaten by the Sarlacc, and we got the Ewoks. It all could've been avoided if they'd just, you know, communicated."
- Hurley, Some Like It Hoth

In Some Like It Hoth, when he learns that Miles isn't taking advantage of his opportunity to bond with his estranged father, Hurley has something to say about it. Here are his words of advice to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel's The Blues Run the Game.

Communication

Hey, I get the way you’re feeling.
I used to hate
My dad for ditching me,
For leaving my mom and me.
He hurt us both, you see,
But we communicate.

We patched things up together
The best we could.
Now we’re the best of buddies.
Now we’re the best of friends.
Wish it had happened sooner.
Forgiving him felt so good.

It’s like with Luke and Vader.
Sure, the guy was shocked.
But what a world of trouble -
And those annoying Ewoks -
He’d have avoided
If the two had only talked.

Hey, I get the way you’re feeling.
I used to hate
My dad for ditching me,
For leaving my mom and me.
He hurt us both, you see,
But we communicate.

Take the gift that you’ve been offered.
Maybe it’s your fate.
You never knew your dad.
You figured he wasn’t nice.
But trust me, you’ll be glad
If you communicate.

Don’t delay like Luke and I did.
Take your second chance.
You might discover
That you love your father.
You’ll uncover
More than you did at first glance.

Though I get the way you’re feeling,
Miles, please don’t wait,
Because you never know
When any of us could go.
No time to take it slow.
Just go communicate.

Dissin' Anakin (On the Road Again, Willie Nelson)

In The Last Recruit, my favorite line in the episode was followed by my least favorite. Hurley, ever the idealist, protested Sawyer's assessment of Sayid, saying, "You can always bring people back from the Dark Side. I mean, Anakin..." At which point Sawyer let him know in no uncertain terms that he neither knew nor cared who Anakin was. From any other character I might be able to brush this off as merely disappointing, but Sawyer has given four Star Wars-related nicknames over the seasons and even used one of Han's tricks to hoodwink Aldo in season three. I don't buy it. So what's the deal, Sawyer? Here's my little rant to the tune of Willie Nelson's On the Road Again.

Dissin’ Anakin

Dissin’ Anakin.
Sawyer, how come you’re dissin’ Anakin?
You’re cool with Chewie, ‘cause that’s what you christened Jin,
So I don’t know why you’re dissin’ Anakin.

Dissin’ Anakin.
You thought Yoda kinda looked like Ben,
Nicknamed Hurley Jabba, much to his chagrin.
I don‘t know why you’re dissin’ Anakin.

Dissin’ Anakin.
You continue to conduct yourself like Solo
With your swaggerin’
And zingers, but there’s somethin’ you should know, bro.
Han Solo

Called his kid Anakin.
Even Solo respected Anakin.
You have committed such a pop cultural sin!
I just don’t know why you’re dissin’ Anakin.

Dissin’ Anakin.
You continue to conduct yourself like Solo
With your swaggerin’
And zingers, but there’s somethin’ you should know, bro.
Han Solo

Called his kid Anakin.
Even Solo respected Anakin.
You have committed such a pop cultural sin!
I just don’t know why you’re dissin’ Anakin.
No, I don’t know why you’re dissin’ Anakin.

Yesterdayland (Yesterday's Men, Phil Coulter)

I've heard very mixed reactions to LaFleur, but I thought it was a wonderful episode that brought us up to speed with Camp Sawyer and gave him his first centric episode since the disturbing Every Man for Himself way back in the beginning of season three. Things were pretty crummy for him then, so it was nice to see him actually fairly serene and settled in his DHARMA life here. Sawyer's one of my favorite characters to write about because he's just so fun, and he has some pretty distinct traits that make it easier to try slipping into his head for a while. Here's what amounts to a recap of LaFleur, ballad-style, to the tune of Yesterday's Men, a seething reflection on sudden job loss sung by George Donaldson of Celtic Thunder. The growly tone fits Sawyer well, but instead of feeling cast aside, Sawyer is at last starting to find a respectable place in the world.

Yesterdayland

Well, the scene wasn't pretty when Red up and died,
Though she vanished before we came 'round.
We found poor Mr. Wizard lookin' frazzled and fried
As he mumbled and gazed at the ground.
Now our leader was lost and our course was unclear.
There was nothin' to do but go find out the year.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

So to give us our bearings, we made for the shore
Till we noticed a gal in distress.
Then we thwarted her murder by killing once more -
As if we all needed more stress!
While we walked to her village, I thought she seemed tense.
Then she thanked us by knockin' us out with her fence.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

Well, I hobnobbed with Horace, the head DHARMA geek,
Who I fed an elaborate lie,
And I bought his respect and a couple of weeks
By appeasing that Eyeliner Guy.
Till Baldie comes bargin' back in with his knife,
I imagine that I could get used to this life.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland.

Now we're firmly entrenched, and my friends call me Jim.
We're as happy as hippies can be.
Bruce Lee is a nuisance, but I put up with him,
And the boss is dependent on me.
Now Chewie is chatty and Juliet's mine.
I'm thinkin' the Seventies suit us just fine.

Good day to the nosebleeds, confusion and headaches.
Aloha to Locke, and with luck, he won't flake.
Since the time-skipping stopped when he slammed on the brake,
We're livin' in Yesterdayland.
Namaste! We're livin' in Yesterdayland. (repeat)