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...