Lifting Fog

SEMI-SPOILER ALERT

OK, as of right now I am looking at t-minus seven hours until official PST LOST episode commencement. Needless to say, like most of the western world who is unfortunately being disappointed yet still gripped by the final season, my mind is a jumble of theories, flash-forwards, flashbacks, and insignificant (or are they?) points about the show. A few weeks back, after a hearty drinking session with a co-worker who shared most, if not all, of my music listening habits of the late 1990s, I went back and started listening again to one of my all time favorite bands The Get Up Kids [RIP]. Headed down this path of musical re-enlightenment, little did I know that my constantly wandering LOST-mind would draw uncanny parallels to songs I have listened to for years without ever making a connection.

I present to you, readers, the song “Valentine” by TGUK: a quintessential track off their quintessential album, Something To Write Home About. This song defined what people came to love about the band. It also ultimately led to their downfall as the band, increasingly tired of their “emo” moniker, felt forced to aggressively alter their sound and, in turn, alienate many fans. The song is below in video form and the lyrics are found after the jump. Bear with me for the mind-melting LOST tie-in.

It’s words you forget, to anniversary songs
Bottles bite back
Your tolerance wrong
Your good intentions count for little anymore
If you’re sorry why wage war?
I’m not fully convinced that there’s something wrong with this
Could another point of view, baised and untrue, tear me away from you?
Will you be my valentine if I’m a world away?
Apologies are breaking me
The constants aren’t so constant anymore
For two days I wait for calls to come through
Tonight for me translates to yesterday to you
You bend and you wave when you’re barely away
I wish I could say tonight, when you bend and wave goodbye, you’d take me with you

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Now you’re salivating. Now you’re chomping at the bit. Let’s examine some of these previously ambiguous lyrics together.

1. “If you’re sorry, why wage war?” — This immediately makes me think of Widmore and Ben of seasons past. In the most recent episode of LOST, “The Substitute,” Ben finally offers some apologetic statements at Locke’s beachside funeral. Albeit a fairly hollow eulogy, for Ben it’s remarkable. It makes me wonder why Ben has done all the terrible things he’s done in his lifetime, responsible for countless deaths and heartless acts of violence… why Ben?! Why?! This also raises the question many of us have been asking: where is Widmore this season? And how will he fit into the storyline, considering how important his role has been previously?
2. “Could another point of view, biased and untrue…” and “Will you be my valentine…” — Could Widmore really keep Penny away from Desmond? No way, brotha. As we have seen, Widmore’s viewpoint has been extremely biased against Desmond. A father wants the best for his daughter, sure, but Widmore typically takes it to a new level by telling Desmond things like “This glass of whiskey is worth more than your whole life” [paraphrasing]. Despite his efforts, we all know what happens on Christmas Eve 2004 [also semi-ties into the lyrics “For two days I wait for calls to come through“]. Another world/time/existence/dimension/undisclosed LOST explanation of the universe away, Desmond finds the love of his life time and time again. How emo!
3. “The constants aren’t so constant anymore” — Say WHAT?! I don’t think I need to go into more detail on this front. We all know how important episode 4×05 was in the LOST universe, and it seems as though The Get Up Kids were somehow channeling the creative minds of Cuse and Lindelof a decade prior. If you believe in polar bears and dogs being vessels for dead people than I don’t think its much of a stretch, guy.
4. “Tonight for me translates to yesterday for you” — This was the lyric I heard that ignited this whole LOST/Get Up Kids spark. It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I will go to great lengths to relate two completely unrelated things to each another on principle alone [see: paper I wrote in high school relating Hemingway characters to Bill and Ted]. But this is a great LOST-centric lyric — the shifting time periods! The unstable nature of relationships bound by one timeline!

The Get Up Kids and LOST form a strangely familiar relationship that bends time and genre. Can you think of any other tie-ins from their lyrics? I know this has been a long post, so I hope most of you stuck with. For those of you that did, enjoy LOST tonight!

Tags: Lost, The Constant, The Get Up Kids, Valentine, Vincent

This entry was posted on February 23, 2010 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Music, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.