Sweet Surrender
a JQ music video by
Emby Quinn

[INT: THE QUEST COMPOUND, PALM KEY, DAY]

[Race is showing Pearl her new bedroom]

RACE: I know it doesn't look like much, but you can fix it up however you want.

PEARL: It looks fine, Father.

RACE: I'm gonna leave you to get settled. If you want the fifty-cent tour, just hunt up Jessie or Jonny and they'll show you around.

PEARL: Thank you...

[Race leaves. Pearl sets a small carry-bag on the foot of the bed, folds her arms around herself and looks around the room. It's simply but cheerfully furnished, obviously not very personalized, at least not at the moment.]

PEARL: (softly) Home sweet home...

[Voices can be heard from outside. Pearl hurries to the window; a moment later, Race can be seen approaching Dr. Benton Quest, who's overseeing some new construction on the south wing]

{Music begins--very techno-sounding riff, lots of beeps and tweedles}

[Pearl looks outside and watches her father with a small smile. She reaches up and fingers a small gold cross around her neck, her one souvenir from her years at St. Agnes School.]

doesn't mean much
[Pearl clutches the cross in her hand, and one solid tug breaks the thin gold chain]
it doesn't mean anything at all
[holds the cross in her hand, studying it]
the life I've left behind me is a cold room
[finally she casts it aside]

I've crossed the last line
[the camera angle pans to follow the cross as it spins in slow motion]
from where I can return
[the cross sails across the room, its broken chain catching the light]
where every step I took in faith betrayed me
[the cross finally lands in a far corner]
and led me from my home
[switch back to Pearl as she looks outside the window again]

sweet surrender
[closeup of Race, still talking to Benton]

is all that I have to give
[Race looks up and sees Pearl, and smiles up at her]

you took me in
no questions asked
[Race waves, and Pearl raises a hand in return]
you strip away the ugliness that surrounds me
[Race returns to his conversation with Benton]

are you an angel?
[Pearl turns away from the window]
am I already that gone?
[she bows her head and hugs herself tightly]
I only hope that I won't disappoint you
[she walks across the room to the other window, which looks out onto the beach]
when I'm down here on my knees
[on the beach she sees Hadji, sitting in lotus position, facing the ocean, his back to her]

sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
[Pearl looks at him, longingly, with a trace of wistfulness in her eyes]

sweet surrender
[a sudden breeze ripples the thin white curtains in the window]
is all that I have to give
[she closes her eyes]

and I don't understand
[close-up on Pearl's face, her eyes are still closed]
how by the touch of your hand
[a brown hand touches her face from behind]
I would be the one to fall
[she starts a bit, with joy, as the hand gently caresses her cheek]

I miss the little things
[she cuddles her cheek into the palm of the hand, smiling]
oh, I miss everything...
...but you...
[we don't see Hadji, just his hand on her face]

doesn't mean much
it doesn't mean anything at all
[slow zoom in on Pearl's face until we only see her eyes, as they open]
the life I've left behind me is a cold room
[switch to medium close-up as she turns to look beside her--and no one is there]

sweet surrender
[she stands alone, framed in the window--she touches her cheek wonderingly]
is all that I have to give
[she looks down, and Hadji is still sitting there, his back to her--he hasn't moved at all]

sweet surrender
[cut to long shot of the window as seen from the beach
(close to what would be Hadji's POV if he were watching Pearl, which he's not)]
is all that I have to give
[with a wistful smile, Pearl turns from the window and disappears into the room]

[Slow pan from the long-shot view of the window downwards until we see Hadji's face in close-up. His eyes are closed......and he wears a quiet, peaceful, and VERY knowing smile as the music fades out.]

~FIN~

lyrics: "Sweet Surrender"
Sarah McLachlan
from the album
Surfacing