The Home That She Denied Me (Octopus's Garden, Ringo Starr)

Man In Black: I have to go.
Mother: Why?
Man In Black: Because I don't belong here.
- Across the Sea

This is a sort of companion piece to This Island Is My Home in which the Man in Black is daydreaming about leaving the Island and trying to figure out how to convince Jacob to go with him.

The Home That She Denied Me 

I’d like to be across the sea

In the home that She denied me as a babe.
I'd watch my twin grow thicker skin

In the home that She denied me as a babe.

We’d see how wide the world could be;

Why doesn’t Jacob want to join me?

I’d like to be across the sea

In the home that She denied me as a babe.

Don’t be alarmed; I’d do no harm

On our journey to reclaim the home I crave.

I would create and innovate,

And our liberty would make my brother brave.

Independence would abound.

No Mother there to boss us ‘round!

I’d like to be across the sea

In the home that She denied me as a babe.

Should I shout that I want out?

Perhaps I should stomp and rant and rave.

(Would it help to rant and rave?)

Need a ploy to sway that Mama’s Boy

Trapped in that suffocating cave.

(What a stifling cave!)

Him and me, at last we would be free,

Basking in the life we never knew.

I’d like to be across the sea

In the home that She denied to us two.

In the home that She denied to us two.

In the home that She denied to us two…

He Called Him Brother (They Called Him Laughter, Michael Card)

"I only picked one name."
- Claudia, Across the Sea

The epic rivalry between Jacob and his brother started with their birth. Here's a reflection on that to the tune of Michael Card's They Called Him Laughter.

He Called Him Brother

A stormy wind and a restless sea
Left Claudia lost. She was destined to be
A pawn in the game of the woman who guarded the Island.
Accepting the help of the stranger who spoke,
She pushed, and her baby was born and awoke.
But Jacob would soon have a brother because there were two.

He called him Brother thanks to their mother.
Though she was expecting,
She didn’t know twins would be due.
So Jacob was frozen in the name she had chosen,
But he called him Brother.
There weren’t enough names for two.

She clothed him in darkness and Jacob in light
And planned for the day when she’d force them to fight.
She applauded the sins of the brother, and poor Jacob knew.
He tried to be faithful to mother and twin,
But given the choice between parent and kin,
He stuck with the former, becoming a desolate boy.

He called him Brother thanks to their mother.
Though she was expecting,
She didn’t know twins would be due.
So Jacob was frozen in the name she had chosen,
But he called him Brother.
There weren’t enough names for two.

He called him Brother thanks to their mother.
Though she was expecting,
She didn’t know twins would be due.
So Jacob was frozen in the name she had chosen,
But he called him Brother.
There weren’t enough names for two.

They Called Him Laughter

This Island Is My Home (Castles in the Air, Don McLean)

Smokey: Come with me, Jacob. Please... What are you gonna do when she dies?
Jacob: She's never gonna die.
Smokey: Jacob, everything dies.
Jacob: Well, I don't wanna leave this island. It's my home.
- Across the Sea

Here's a conversation between Smokey and Jacob as the former tries to convince the latter to leave the Island, to the tune of Don McLean's Castles in the Air.

This Island Is My Home

Smokey: What do you plan to do when she dies?
Jacob: I don't believe she ever will.
This Island is my home.
I don’t know why you’re so inclined to roam.
Smokey: Why should you stay? You’ll just be left alone.

Living here with men, I have watched them steal and lie,
And I have learned that everyone must die.
The tide has turned, and Mother’s end is nigh.
How I have yearned to bid this place goodbye!

Jacob, can’t I convince you to join in?
How I have missed our times together, gentle twin.
Jacob: Brother, you know how lonely I have been,
But if I left her now, I would shudder in chagrin.

Remember long ago, back when she led us to the water
Where we saw the ever-glowing light?
She said, “One day, I’m going to incite
One of you boys to protect it, day and night.”

Smokey: Look, I do not belong on this God-forsaken Island.
Can’t you see we’re in a foreign land?
What must I say to make you understand?
Don’t go along with what that woman’s planned.

Jacob, can’t I convince you to join in?
How I have missed our times together, gentle twin.
Jacob: Brother, you know how lonely I have been,
But if I left her now, I would shudder in chagrin.

Smokey: What do you plan to do when she dies?
Jacob: I don't believe she ever will.
This Island is my home.
I don’t know why you’re so inclined to roam.
Smokey: Why should you stay? You’ll just be left alone.

The Back-Up Plan (Superman's Ghost, Don McLean)

Mother: It has to be you, Jacob.
Jacob: No, it doesn't. You wanted it to be him. But now I'm all you have.
- Across the Sea

When I set myself a goal of finishing 200 LOST songs before the finale, I didn't really expect to achieve it. I was sure that the strange writing streak that began on my birthday would peter out soon. But it didn't, and here I am, a week before the finale, posting number 200. I decided to go with Don McLean's Superman's Ghost for this one; I'd had it on the back burner since season three, always intending it to be from Ben's perspective, sulking about John's favored status, but I always felt like I needed more of the story. Across the Sea showed me that Ben and John were just perpetuating a long pattern. After the episode ended, I announced that it was probably my second-favorite episode of the season. The more I think about it, the more sure I am of that. Though I thoroughly expect the last three and a half hours to blow even Dr. Linus out of the water. Here's Jacob, wondering along with us what's coming next.

The Back-Up Plan

“I don’t want the cup to pass to me.
He was your favorite son.
I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.”

We came from another place over the sea,
Though I didn’t know that as a boy.
I lived with my brother harmoniously;
Our companionship brought me such joy!
But I was contented and he was a rover,
And Mother encouraged the rift.
So when she insisted her time here was over,
I snapped at the sight of her gift.

“I don’t want the cup to pass to me.
He was your favorite son.
I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.”

He claimed she would die, and I yelled, “It’s a lie!”
But her weariness weighed on my mind,
And I was in fear of my solitude here
If he succeeded and he left me behind.
No, I never asked to take on the task
That she had intended him for,
But when I tried to protest, she wasn’t impressed
And said, “You have no choice anymore.”

“I don’t want the cup to pass to me.
He was your favorite son.
I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.”

She damaged us both, but I still took the oath,
And her death sent me into a rage,
So I perverted my twin with the source of all sin,
And my penance has lasted an age.
I’d proven him right that between dark and light,
People always will choose the wrong course.
But I dreamed of one day discerning a way
To reap good from the seeds of remorse.

“I don’t want the cup to pass to me.
He was your favorite son.
I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.”

Well, I’ve watched from above and witnessed the love
That humanity strives to embrace.
But the women and men, down to little lost Ben,
Have succumbed, although some have sought grace.
I can’t be sure how it all will end now,
But children, acknowledge my plea:
You have shown, through this test, that you’re special and blessed,
And so don’t mess it up just like me.

“I don’t want the cup to pass to me.
He was your favorite son.
I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.

I never questioned. I never disobeyed.
The best one grew restless, and he strayed,
So I had to be your back-up plan.”

Superman's Ghost

Brothers (Partners, Traditional)

Here's a song from Jacob and Smokey set during one of their clandestine meetings prior to their adoptive mother's death, to the tune of the cowboy song Partners. (And I know his brother isn't "Smokey" yet, but I'm set in my ways...)

Brothers

Jacob: You want to leave; I want to stay.
You rebel, while I obey.
Although you now live far away,
We’ll always be brothers.

You’re insolent, and I’m polite.
You dress in black, and I dress in white.
We still will meet; we have that right.
We’ll always be brothers.

How I miss when we could spend
Days together, from start to end.
I never will forget that, friend,
‘Cause we’ll always be brothers.

Smokey: I love the sea; you love the land.
I crave adventure; you like things bland.
But here’s what we both understand:
We’ll always be brothers.

I’ve grown mature; you’re still a child.
I’m in the village; you’re in the wild.
If Mother knew, she might be riled,
But we’ll always be brothers.

How I miss when we could spend
Days together, from start to end.
I never will forget that, friend,
‘Cause we’ll always be brothers.

Partners

Brother in Black (Little Boy Blue, Eugene Field)

Jacob: Can you show me how to play?
Smokey: If you promise not to tell Mother.
Jacob: Why can't we tell her?
Smokey: Because she'll take it away.
- Across the Sea

How do such good friends become such mortal enemies? Destructive parenting doesn't help... Here's a song about Smokey and Jacob to the tune of the Irish Rovers' Little Boy Blue.

Brother in Black

The curious game washed up on the shore,
Half-buried within the sand.
So the brother in white asked, “What is it for?”
As he held a piece in his hand.

That was long before the days of Jack
And of Hurley and all the rest.
Oh, and that was when the brother in black
Stated his small request.

“Don’t you tell Mother what I found.
You know she won‘t let us play.”
But Jacob, so honest and honor-bound,
Reported it right away.

“You’re special,” said Mother, who took a seat
Right next to the brother in black.
“You are quick and cunning. You'll lie and cheat,
Skills that Jacob will always lack.”

“Don’t you tell Mother what I found.
You know she won‘t let us play.”
But Jacob, so honest and honor-bound,
Reported it right away.

Mother assured him she understood
And urged him to keep the game,
While Jacob was told he was very good
And she loved each of them the same.

She was laying the rails of a tragic track
That would lead to an epic fight.
Oh, how she damaged the brother in black
And the brother who dressed in white!

“Don’t you tell Mother what I found.
You know she won‘t let us play.”
But Jacob, so honest and honor-bound,
Reported it right away.

Little Boy Blue

The Man With No Name (A Horse With No Name, Dewey Bunnell)

Across the Sea gave me a lot to mull over. I have a feeling I won't entirely understand its significance until I can put it together with the last two episodes, but at first glance, I found it epic and moving, and I wound up staying up until 4 in the morning writing my first song inspired by this foray into Jacob and Smokey's distant history. I imagine that he feels very guilty about turning his brother into the Smoke Monster and hopes that proving that humanity can choose goodness will somehow undo that fusion. Here's Jacob to the tune of America's A Horse With No Name.

The Man With No Name

Started out when we were children.
I was happy with Island life.
With my mother and my brother there,
Why would I go anywhere?
That wasn’t enough for my curious kin.
He was drawn to the sea.
He thought there must be a land beyond,
Far from Mother, far from me.

I blemished my brother. He’s the man with no name
Whose corruption is my lifelong shame,
And I’ve forced him to keep on playing my game.
It seems pointless, but I will try all the same.

Mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight.
I must end it by sharing the sacred light.

Near the village Mother tried to hide,
He said he wanted to leave.
When he told how our true mother died,
I was fuming far too much to grieve.
So he stayed with the men while I went home again.
I did not know what to believe.

You see, I blemished my brother. He’s the man with no name
Whose corruption is my lifelong shame,
And I’ve forced him to keep on playing my game.
It seems pointless, but I will try all the same.

Our mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight,
And I must end it by sharing the sacred light.

Decades later, we still conferred in peace,
But civility soon would cease.
When I saw our mother’s lifeless form,
I became a raging storm.
The heartbeat of the Island pounded deep in the stream,
Where I gave him a sullen shove.
I watched the smoke spread like a darkening dream,
Coldly claiming the twin I love.

That’s how I blemished my brother. He’s the man with no name
Whose corruption is my lifelong shame,
And I’ve forced him to keep on playing my game.
It seems pointless, but I will try all the same.

Our mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight,
And I must end it by sharing the sacred light.
Our mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight,
And I must end it by sharing the sacred light.
Mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight,
And I must end it by sharing the sacred light.
Mother led us to this. It’s a cosmic fight,
And I must end it by sharing the sacred light...