After reading Dariel’s article about how J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof tricked ABC into creating Lost, I went deep down the YouTube rabbit hole (hatch?), re-watching scenes I haven’t thought about in years. When Lost was good, Lost was GREAT, so naturally, my first stop was to one of my favorite scenes in the whole series: the introduction of Desmond. Remember when Dexter used “Make Your Own Kind of Music” in the final season? THAT’S DESMOND’S SONG. BAD DEXTER. Anyway, that scene inspired me to guess the proverbial “desert island disc” for 10 of the show’s main characters. I left off people like Shannon, but if you want to say she would have gone with Paris by Paris Hilton, feel free.
Jack — In Utero by Nirvana
But only for Drunk, Bearded Jack. Island Jack gets (We Need to Go) Back in Black by AC/DC.
Kate — Sentimentally Yours by Patsy Cline
The Lost Wiki notes, “According to Carlton Cuse, the writers have associated Patsy Cline’s music with…Kate because actress Evangeline Lilly often listens to Cline.” That explains why four of her songs can be head over the course of the series, including “She’s Got You,” which appears on Sentimentally Yours, the last album Cline recorded before she died…in a plane crash. WAKE UP SHEEPLE.
Sawyer — Live at Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
They’re both sensitive outlaws, and while I’m not 100% sure Johnny and June had sex in a cage surrounded by fish biscuit crumbs, I’m not putting it past them, either.
Hurley — Pinkerton by Weezer
Hurley appreciates that Weezer named an album after him, and even put his face on the cover, but that doesn’t mean he actually WANTS to listen to the dreadful “Where’s My Sex?” He prefers Pinkerton because he’s used to pining for things that are across the sea. Namely, Mr. Cluck’s Chicken Shack.
Sayid — Metallica by Metallica
Before getting on Oceanic Flight 815, Sayid (WHO SHOULD HAVE ENDED UP WITH NADIA IN THE FINALE, NOT SHANNON) worked as an interrogator for Iraq’s Special Republican Guard. He showed off his skills a few times on the island, including once on Sawyer. But Sayid needs tunes to get him into the mood for some torturin’, and as the U.S. government discovered, few bands weaken prisoners as well as Metallica. The self-titled album it is. Don’t tread on Sayid (or piss him off.)
Jin and Sun — Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture
Here’s what I remember about Jin and Sun. He was a dick to her, she pretended she didn’t know how to speak English even though she did, he learned English, he became less of a dick, they got separated, they reunited, they drowned in a sub while holding hands. The end. It’s been four years since the finale, and I’m still upset that they went to the Great Dharma Station In the Sky, like, a day after getting back together. Lindelof and Cuse are the real monsters. Anyway, considering the way they died and their both being bilingual, it’s gotta be the Titanic soundtrack, if only for “My Heart Will Go On” by the Quebec-born Céline Dion.
Charlie — Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) by the Kinks
Oasis is a tempting choice, and Charlie even sings “Wonderwall” during one episode, but I’ve always assumed that he hated the Gallagher brothers as much as hated his actual brother, Liam. Drive Shaft was popular around the same time as Oasis, though not nearly as successful. So there’s no way he’d pick Definitely Maybe, nor Blur’s Parklife or Pulp’s Different Class, two bands that I’m assuming excited in the Lost universe. Instead, I’m going with the Kinks’ Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), because a) Charlie professed to loving them, and b) it has a song called “Australia,” and Charlie loves him all things Australian.
Ben — Ready to Die by the Notorious B.I.G.
Ben Linus, easily the best character on Lost, is one ruthless motherf*cker. That’s why this is such a tough choice. Do you go with something unrelenting, like everything by Swans, or do you play up his creepy side and choose that album with mental patients screaming into a microphone? Neither of those feel right, though, so I’m picking Ready to Die, because imagining bug-eyed Ben listening to the track where Biggie is getting a blowjob makes me laugh. Also, they both loved the word “bitch.”
Desmond — Make Your Own Kind of Music/It’s Getting Better by Cass Elliot
Obviously.
Michael — Tindersticks by Tindersticks
Michael likes the whole album enough, but he LOVES one song: “The Walt Blues.”
