
LORELAI: But my question is, how did that happen? How was it that suddenly everyone in the world was saying ‘music has charms to soothe the savage beast’ when it was written breast?
“Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast” is a famous quote from William Congreve’s 1697 play, The Mourning Bride, previously mentioned. It means that listening to music can help calm angry and upset emotions.
For some unknown reason, it became popularly misquoted as “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast”. It doesn’t even make sense – if you’re being attacked by a wild tiger, whistling show tunes won’t help in the slightest.