The Walking Dead - Daryl & Carol - Untouchable (video)

I'm thinking there must be *one* Walking Dead fan out there who might appreciate this!!

This video has been brewing for quite some time.  I really didn't care much for The Walking Dead the first season.  I'm not a big fan of gore however talented the "costume" crew is.  But when that wild man Daryl (if he was a person I met in real life he would scare me to death) brought the Cherokee Rose to Carol with such a beautifully eloquent presentation of the story behind it, I sat up straight and wanted to know more about him. Why does he care, why does he want to share and how does he know how to tell a story so well?

We know far more about Daryl than Carol, but an amazing bond developed there, initiated by him.  We know from his conversation with Andrea that he understands being lost, as Sophia was lost, but in his case no one was looking for him.  So he is an abused kid.  And if you don't get it from that, you get it from his flinch when Carol leans over to kiss him.  It's such a foreign concept to be touched with affection.

All we really know about Carol is that she lives with an abusive husband and has a loving healthy relationship with her daughter.  She has faith, she often appears impassive, but tears will roll down her cheeks giving away the emotion inside.  She is the total opposite of Daryl whose feelings boil under the surface and he will lash out and move into "attack mode" in an instant.

We get insight into his life and relationship with his brother Merle when he is hallucinating in pain, an arrow piercing his side. Their whole culture is based on contempt.  I was left with the impression that Daryl tried hard to live up to Merle's reputation, but also wanted and needed to be unique.

So when I really listened to all of My Skin by Natalie Merchant, I knew this was a match that would work.
"Untouchable"  is a repeated lyric.  I knew that was perfect for Carol and Daryl, but Sophia became untouchable after she was bitten - that didn't occur to me until I was making the vid.

"Slow dying flower".  Both Daryl and Carol are slow dying flowers who need saving.  I hope they are sufficiently different in their needs that they can save each other.  Unexpectedly, the Cherokee Rose, which represents hope in Daryl's story, can parallel the slow dying flower.  Carol is ripping them out of the ground after Sophia's death.

"Contempt loves the silence, It thrives in the dark, with fine winding tendrils that strangle the heart" perfectly describes Daryl, especially now that he has isolated himself away from the group as he grieves the loss of Sophia.  I hope Carol gets through to him and draws him back.  She seems determined to do so.

"Angel sweet love of my life" of course was Sophia.  Without her, this song would not have worked so well for these two.  i.e. I would have had to do some fancy interpretation!

"Is it dark enough?  Can you see me? Do you want me?  Can you reach me?  Or, I'm leaving"  I have only once worked with clips that were so "fresh" and that was a instrumental piece of music (Loyalty), so it was stunning that these new clips just slipped perfectly into place after Sophia's death.

There are three clips included from last night's episode S2E9 and well, that's a whole 'nother subject. In the meantime....  (the lyrics are below)
If you are receiving this as an email update, please click on the title to view the vid on the web.




My Skin - Natalie Merchant

Take a look at my body
Look at my hands
There's so much here that I don't understand
Your face saving promises
Whispered like prayers
I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable

Well contempt loves the silence
It thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils
That strangle the heart

They say that promises sweeten the blow
But I don't need them, no I don't need them

I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm a slow dying flower
Frost killing hour
The sweet turning sour and untouchable

O, I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
O, I need this

I need a lullaby
A kiss good night
Angel sweet love of my life
O, I need this
I'm the slow dying flower
frost killing hour
The sweet turning sour and untouchable

Do you remember the way that you touched me before
All the trembling sweetness I loved and adored
Your face saving promises whispered like prayers
I don't need them
No, I don't need them

I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
Oh, I need this

I need a lullaby
A kiss good night
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

Well is it dark enough?
Can you see me?
Do you want me?
Can you reach me?
Or I'm leaving

You better shut your mouth
And hold your breath
kiss me now
And catch your death

Oh, I mean this