The Crazy Man (Shilo, Neil Diamond)

Charlotte: When I was little, living here, there was this man... a crazy man, he really scared me. And he told me that I had to leave the island and never ever come back. He told me that if I came back I would die. Daniel: Charlotte, I don't understand.
Charlotte: Daniel – I think that man was you.
- This Place Is Death

Charlotte is one character on LOST who I've felt we didn't really get to know quite as well as I would've liked. But through Daniel, I've developed a pretty deep affection for her. Here's a reflection mostly by her in This Place Is Death, to the tune of Neil Diamond's Shilo.

The Crazy Man

Charlotte: Can’t Daddy come?
How can we leave him behind?
Sawyer: Hey, what’s with Red?
I think she’s out of her mind!

Juliet: Listen, Dan, our time’s running out now
And we’ve got to go.
Daniel: So you think I should leave her here since she’s slow?
No, no and no!

Charlotte: One long-ago July,
I met a crazy man.
He told me I would die
If I came back. Oh, Dan,
That was you.

Now I recall
That I have been here before.
Daniel, this was my home;
Lived here for three years or more.

Every time I tried to remember
This as a child,
Mum insisted my daydreams were running wild,
Just running wild.

One long-ago July,
I met a crazy man.
He told me I would die
If I came back. Oh, Dan,
Is it true?

Anthropology seemed like my ticket
To finding this place.
Now I’m seeing the warning etched in your face.
It’s in your face.

One long-ago July,
I met a crazy man.
He told me I would die
If I came back. Oh, Dan,
What to do?

Anthropology seemed like my ticket
To finding this place.
Now I’m seeing the warning etched in your face.
It’s in your face.

One long-ago July,
I met a crazy man.
He told me I would die
If I came back. Oh, Dan,
That was you.

Please Kill the Girl (We Kill the World, Frank Farian / Giorgio & Giusela Sgarbi)

One of my favorite songs growing up was Boney M.'s We Kill the World (Don't Kill the World), an epic Save the Earth song that is both ominous and inspiring. I've been rewatching the early episodes of LOST's fourth season, and when I revisited this song tonight, I thought it might make a good vehicle for Charlotte's ordeal in Confirmed Dead and The Economist.

Mostly, I stick pretty close to the script, I think; the main change is that I imagine Daniel, who I've always thought of as a Man of Faith as well as a Man of Science, praying for her safety from a distance, and I imagine Jacob watching over Daniel and wanting to offer him some reassurance.

Please Kill the Girl (Don’t Kill the Girl)

Ben: (spoken) I see chaos, despair and chaos.
I see mercenaries on the rise.
This girl, this girl…

Coming to destroy.
She may be acting coy,
But she is in the know.
Many years ago,
I kicked her leader out
And now it’s turnabout.

John: We’ll take her hostage
And we’ll get some answers.
This girl, this girl.

Charlotte: What is wrong with you?
What did I ever do
To make you all so mean?
If I hadn’t seen
This with my own two eyes,
I’d not believe it, guys.

John: We’ll take her hostage.
We’ll get some answers.

Ben: If you don’t watch your back,
This girl’s team will attack.

Please kill the girl
(Daniel: Not her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: Not her!)
Ben: She’s one of them, we ought to condemn her.
Please
(Daniel: Protect her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I love her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I need her!)
Ben: She’s one of them, we should condemn her.

Sawyer: If this is the fault
Of taller ghostly Walt,
I wonder if we are
Traveling so far
And cooking up a scheme
Because of Baldie's dream.

John: We’ll take her hostage
And we’ll get some answers.

Ben: If you don’t watch your back,
This girl’s team will attack.

Please kill the girl
(Daniel: Not her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: Not her!)
Ben: She’s one of them, we ought to condemn her.
Please
(Daniel: Protect her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I love her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I need her!)
Ben: She’s one of them, we should condemn her.

Ben: Please
(Daniel: Protect her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I love her!)
Ben: Kill the girl
(Daniel: I need her!)
Ben: She’s one of them, we ought to condemn her.
Please kill the girl!

Hurley: Don’t kill the girl.
Do her no harm.
Though we have cause for alarm,
Don’t kill the girl.
Let her take flight.
Hey, we’re the good guys, right?

Claire: Don’t kill the girl.
Though Charlie died
To warn us who was inside
That boat out there,
He’d shake his head
And say to spare her instead.

Daniel: Don’t kill the girl.
I love her so,
Though I’ve not yet let her know.
I’d trade my life
To keep her whole.
I’d trade my very soul.

Sayid: I’ll save the girl.
Miles, please come with me.
Frank: There’s a chopper spot for you if
You set her free.
Jack: Help save the girl,
‘Cause I don’t trust John.
Remember, Kate, whose team you’re on.

Jacob: Daniel, I know that this is hard.
But keep the faith and be brave.
When she returns, you’ll be her guard.
Her life is yours to save.

Hurley: Don’t kill the girl.
Do her no harm.
Though we have cause for alarm,
Don’t kill the girl.
Let her take flight.
Don’t kill the girl,
This girl.

Daniel's Warning (Coulter's Candy, Traditional)

In LOST, Daniel Faraday's life is just one tragedy after another. I imagine that his mother hoped that he would be able to go back and negate his death by her own hand. Meanwhile, Daniel's chief preoccupation was Charlotte, future love of his life, now just a little girl sneaking in a little chocolate before dinner. Here's a song from their tender scene together in The Variable, to the tune of the Irish Rovers' Coulter's Candy. (In the recording, the actual song starts just after the one-and-a-half-minute mark.)

Daniel’s Warning

Daniel: Little Charlotte,
Sweet red-headed tot,
I gave this a lot of thought.
Heed my warning; leave this spot,
But first, enjoy your candy.

Pledged my love in ‘54.
I couldn’t hide it anymore.
I have to alter the fate that’s in store
While you enjoy your candy.

Little Charlotte,
Sweet red-headed tot,
I gave this a lot of thought.
Heed my warning; leave this spot,
But first, enjoy your candy.

Charlotte: Listen, sir, your sorrow scares me so.
You look like a friendly fellow, though.
Don’t be so sad. Don’t let Daddy know
That I have been eating candy.

Daniel: Little Charlotte,
Sweet red-headed tot,
I gave this a lot of thought.
Heed my warning; leave this spot,
But first, enjoy your candy.

Darling girl, I’m overcome with fear.
Go with your mom and get out of here.
Escape this Island. Don’t come back, my dear,
But by all means, enjoy your candy.

Little Charlotte,
Sweet red-headed tot,
I gave this a lot of thought.
Heed my warning; leave this spot,
But first, enjoy your candy.

I Can Make Time (Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce)

When I realized that the fifth season of LOST was going to be both very concerned with the notion of time and rooted in the seventies, I found myself really hoping that the show would incorporate Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle at some point, especially in a scene focusing on Daniel Faraday. With only one episode to go in the season, that seems unlikely now, so I figured I'd have to match Dan and Croce up myself. This reflection has him confiding in Charlotte at an unspecified point in time prior to the events of the fifth season.

I Can Make Time

"But I can make time," I told Mother,
"For passions I long to pursue.
There's no need for dismay. I'm convinced I can conjure a way
To indulge me and you."

I wished I could play my piano.
I yearned for romance sometimes too.
But it doesn't pay to be Dan Faraday.
My gray matter's coming unglued.

When you smile at me, I want to find time
For music and a woman who'll treat me kindly.
I've lived in isolation, though, forgetting dreams of long ago.
Remind me.

My mind has been addled by physics,
Experiments' damage accrued.
My spirit endures, and while I'm in the presence of yours,
All my hopes are renewed.

When you smile at me, I want to find time
For music and a woman who'll treat me kindly.
I've lived in isolation, though, forgetting dreams of long ago.
Remind me.