She Was There (I'll Be There, Berry Gordy / Bob West / Hal Davis / Willie Hutch)

"I'm talking about spectacular, consciousness-altering love. Do you know what that looks like?" - Charlie, Happily Ever After

I've always loved the Jackson 5's I'll Be There; it wasn't until now that I realized just how much stuff was going on in the background vocally. It's a much more involved song than it initially seems. Anyway, I had to turn it into a vehicle for Charlie explaining to Desmond his experience of "what love looks like" in Happily Ever After, with Desmond chiming in now and then, along with visions of Claire and Penny.

She Was There

Charlie: Have you been in love before?
I was standing at death‘s door.
Then in my head, she was there.
(Claire: I was there.)
Charlie: As I slipped into abyss,
She appeared, and all was bliss.
Just for a moment, she was there.
(Claire: I was there.)

Charlie: I tell you,
She was there, and she was real. (Claire: I was there)
Charlie: What a rapturous blonde beauty! (Claire: With)
Charlie: And I swear that she knew me. (Claire: You.)
Charlie: She was there, but to my dismay, (Claire: I was there)
Charlie: I was revived, and she dimmed away. (Claire: With you.)
(Claire: Dimmed away, dimmed away, dimmed away...)
Desmond: That’s not true. That’s not true.

Charlie: Mr. Hume, contain your mocking laughter,
For I have seen such a sweet hereafter.
I’ll make you believe me. She was there.
(Claire: I was there.)
Charlie: She was there to enfold me.
(Claire: Yes, Charlie...)
Charlie: Never knew how that felt. No one told me.
Just for a moment, she was there.
(Claire: I was there.)

Charlie: I tell you,
She was there, and she was real. (Claire: I was there)
Charlie: What a rapturous blonde beauty! (Claire: With)
Charlie: And I swear that she knew me. (Claire: You.)
Charlie: She was there, but to my dismay, (Claire: I was there)
Charlie: I was revived, and she dimmed away. (Claire: With you.)
Desmond: No, that’s not true. That’s not true.
(Claire: Dimmed away, dimmed away, dimmed away...)

Charlie: I’m only mentioning this to you
In hopes your consciousness changes too.
You’ll find a purpose. She’ll be there.
(Penny: I’ll be there.)

Charlie: Then you’ll know what love looks like.
She’ll be there. She’ll be there.
Just for a moment,
(Penny: I’ll be there.)
Charlie: She’ll be there.

Desmond: Well, that’s poetry right there, brother!

Charlie: Yes, she’ll be there. She’ll be there.
I’ll make you believe me.
(Penny: I’ll be there.)
Charlie: She’ll be there.
Then you’ll know what love looks like.
(Penny: Desmond, I’m waiting for you.) Charlie: She’ll be there.
(Penny: Desmond, I’m waiting for you.) Charlie: She’ll be there.
Just for a moment,
(Penny: I’ll be there.)
Charlie: She’ll be there.
Yes, Mr. Hume!
(Penny: Desmond, I’m waiting for you.) Charlie: She’ll be there.
(Penny: Desmond, I’m waiting for you.) Charlie: She’ll be there...

(fadeout)

Penny Milton (Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison)

Desmond: I don't know...I don't know what I felt.
Daniel: Yes, you do. You felt love.
Desmond: That's impossible, because I don’t know anything about this woman, I don't know...I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she exists. She's...she's an idea.
- Happily Ever After

Desmond and Penny are fated to find each other, but there always seem to be complications. Here, Sideways Desmond battles Eloise before getting some help from Daniel about Penny's whereabouts, to the tune of Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman.

Penny Milton

Desmond: Penny Milton. That’s the name they said.
Penny Milton. But is it in my head?
Penny Milton.
I have to struggle to understand
The words I saw on Charlie’s hand.
Penny...

Penny Milton. Could it really be?
Penny Milton. Is she the one for me?
Penny Milton.
I need some answers, Eloise.
Let me see that guest list, please.
Now!

Eloise: Penny Milton? Just forget.
Desmond, you’re not ready yet.
Your arrival is a threat to me.

Desmond: Penny Milton. So surreal,
And I can’t conceal my zeal.
Penny Milton, now revealed to me.
But this Penny, does she exist?
Would it be crazy if I persist?

Penny Milton. I’m losing steam.
Penny Milton. Is she a dream?
Penny Milton. I know what I feel. It’s real.
But am I chasing a mere ideal?

Daniel: Now there’s no reason for such gloom.
She’s my half-sister, Mr. Hume.
Take it from me.
I can tell you where she’ll be.
Yes, I know just where she’ll be.
You’ll find Penny Milton.

Penny Hume (Penny Lane, Paul McCartney)

Over the weekend, thousands of geeks converged in San Diego for the 2009 Comic-Con. Though I wasn't one of them, through the magic of eBay, I did manage to snag an official Ben Linus bobblehead, which captures the after-effects of his confrontation with Penny and Desmond in the fifth season. Here, then, to the tune of the Beatles' Penny Lane, is an ode to Penny, who's had to put up with an awful lot as Desmond's One True Love.

Penny Hume

Poor Penny Hume was separated from the one she loves.
He disappeared for years before the two were wed.
Though many others would have thought him dead,
She had faith instead.

In The Searcher she endeavored to discover him.
A chat with Charlie proved her hope was not in vain.
When she found him, nothing could restrain
Desmond's utter bliss.
What a kiss!

Penny Hume is Desmond's long-awaited wife.
She'd become the constant in his life,
The one who rescued him.

When Penny Hume and Desmond left the Oceanic Six,
They knew they'd have to have their wedding on the run.
In circumstances that were far from fun,
Penny bore a son.

Penny Hume has got a complicated life.
Ben is sowing seeds of strife.
He plots a mean attack

While Desmond steers his little family to Los Angeles
To meet the spooky mom of Daniel Faraday.
He doesn't mean to put her in harm's way,
But Ben plans to slay

Poor Penny Hume, whose father Widmore is a scallywag.
She doesn't want a jot to do with his affairs.
But avenging Benji doesn't care
That she's unaware.
So unfair!

Penny Hume is begging Ben to show some grace.
Then the boy named after Charlie Pace
Turns up and Ben relents.
Penny Hume is both a daughter and a wife,
But the role of mother saved her life.
Penny Hume.

Penny Girl (Danny Boy, Traditional)

The writers' strike put a bit of a damper on the fourth season of LOST, mainly in terms of developing the quartet of new characters who came from the freighter. Nonetheless, this season has had some of the most beautiful moments of the series thus far, and perhaps my favorite of them all is the life-saving phone call that occurs at the end of The Constant, a brilliant episode from start to finish. Here's my meager attempt to capture some of its glory. I think of it sort of as Desmond practicing what he's going to say to Penny when he tracks her down in 1996, to the tune of Danny Boy.

Penny Girl

Oh Penny girl, my mind, my mind is flailing.
Again, again I'm tumbling with the tide.
Adrift, alone and starless, I am sailing.
It's you, it's you can heal this great divide.

So bring me back. Pen, sing me to my senses.
With you my anchor, I will not let go,
And I'll atone for all my past offenses.
Oh Penny girl, oh Penny girl, I love you so.

Eight years from now, you'll hear the fateful chiming -
If you have faith. Oh, Penny, please believe!
And when you answer, I will praise the timing,
The perfect present on that Christmas Eve.

Then, through my tears, I'll cast away my sorrow.
Though it may seem that I am lost at sea,
You'll have my pledge to meet you in tomorrow,
My life preserved, Pen, by your constant love for me.