What a Friend We Have in Jesus

The hymn they are singing at the Kim house when Lane arrives.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus is a Christian hymn written by Irish-Canadian poet Joseph M. Scriven, a preacher in the Plymouth Brethren movement. He wrote it in 1855 to comfort his mother back in Ireland after hearing she was terribly ill, and only received credit for it in the 1880s. The tune was composed by American attorney Charles Crozat Converse.

Although sometimes criticised for its sentimentality, the hymn remains popular. It has been recorded many times, including by Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, and Amy Grant. The song features in the film, Driving Miss Daisy, previously discussed.

Lane looks absolutely flushed with happiness as she joins in with the hymn-singing, thrilled with finding her calling in life. It’s a reminder too that Lane has always grown up around music – just not rock music. It feels as if Mrs Kim has unknowingly been bolstering Lane’s passion all this time!

In “Kiss and Tell”, Lane mentioned that it was Sing Your Favourite Hymn Night at the Kim house on the day that Dean first kissed Rory, again linking hymn night with first love. That seemed to be a Thursday evening, suggesting it is Thursday now, and a week after the car accident that Jess and Rory had. (Of course, the Kims could have changed their hymn night in the interim). It’s clearly not night time, but “hymn night” actually seems to be held in the late afternoon (or early evening in the winter months, as it gets dark earlier then).

Lane’s Drummer Heroes

RORY: And even if you do buy a drum set, where are you gonna play it?

LANE: I don’t know, I don’t know any of this. But I will figure something out, because I am Keith Moon, I am Neil Peart, I am Rick Allen, with and without the arm, because I am rock ‘n’ roll, baby!

Keith Moon (1946-1978) [pictured], English drummer for rock band The Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour, and addiction to drugs and alcohol. His drumming style emphasised tom-tom drums, cymbal crashes and drum fills, and was one of the earliest rock drummers to use double bass drums. He had a reputation for smashing his drum kit on stage. He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, and is regarded as one of the greatest drummers in history. Keith Moon used a DW drum kit with Zildjian cymbals.

Neil Peart (1952-2020) Canadian musician, songwriter, and author, best known as the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. His drumming was renowned for its technical proficiency and his live performances for their exacting nature and stamina. Initially inspired by rock drummers like Keith Moon, Peart became influenced by jazz and swing bands. He was inducted into the Modern Drummers Hall of Fame in 1983, making him the youngest person to receive this honour. He used a DW drum kit.

Richard “Rick” Allen (born 1963), English drummer for the hard rock band Def Leppard since 1978. In 1984 his left arm was amputated after a car accident but decided to continue drumming, although he didn’t perform live again until 1986. He uses Zildjian cymbals.

Lane had already talked about becoming a drummer, but I think we are meant to assume that this dream has solidified for her – not I’d like to be a drummer, but I am a drummer. It does seem slightly odd that her drummer idols are now from classic rock bands, when previously she looked up to drummers in punk and alternative rock bands. The writer seems to have chosen drummers who used the same equipment Sophie has for sale in her store.

Rory gives Lane very little encouragement in her drumming dreams, although the questions she asks Lane are quite reasonable. It’s disappointing though that she tells Jess he can do anything he wants, and to reach for the stars, while Lane gets cold water poured on her ideas. Either she only encourages boys that she’s attracted to (Dean also got a lot of unwanted encouragement to improve himself), or she only encourages academic goals, not creative ones. Happily, Lane’s mood is not dampened one little bit by Rory’s reality check.

Hava Nagila

The song which plays when the rabbi doll is moved so Rory can get pizza money.

Hava Nagila is a modern Jewish folk song traditionally sung at Jewish celebrations. It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917; there are competing claims over who wrote the simple lyrics, but the tune is a traditional Hasidic religious song. Hava Nagila translates as “Let us rejoice”, and the song is all about being happy.

Notice that the photo from Rory’s sixteenth birthday party is across from the rabbi doll with nodding head, and just behind it is the monkey lamp that Lorelai swapped for Baccarat candlesticks she received as a gift from Emily.

Mickey Hargitay

BABETTE: I met this guy once – gorgeous, tan, looked just like Mickey Hargitay. We had coffee, he gave me a pamphlet. Next thing you know, I’m wearing a muumuu, playing a tambourine, jumping up and down at the airport.

Miklós “Mickey” Hargitay (1926-2006), Hungarian-born bodybuilder, actor and the 1955 Mr Universe. He was married to actress Jayne Mansfield from 1958-1964, and they made four films together, including Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). He is the father of actress Mariska Hargitay.

Babette sometimes alludes to the terrible experiences she had with men before fortunately meeting Morey, which she has no compunction about sharing with Rory. The previous season, she told Rory about the time she got pushed out of a car, and this season she tells Rory about how she was lured into a cult! For such a bright and bubbly character, she has a very dark past.

I think the cult that Babette is describing are the Hare Krishnas, who tended to recruit new members at airports in the 1970s, and often used tambourine music and dancing to attract interest. They didn’t actually wear muumuus, but Babette might have thought their orange robes looked like muumuus.

Eurostat

RICHARD: Well, granted the European insurance market still needs some restructuring but it’s growing at a remarkable rate. What am I basing it on? Well, Clive, surely you’ve seen the latest Eurostat. Yes, I’ve got it right in front of me. [whispers to Lorelai] Eurostat!

Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union, located in Luxembourg, and first established in 1953. It publishes Europe-wide statistics, and Lorelai brings her father one of their publications for reference.

Richard quotes the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands as three insurance markets to keep an eye on, with the Netherlands “about to go through the roof”, apparently.

Drum Set

SOPHIE: That’s a DW drum set with Zildjian cymbals.

This is the drum set that Lane tries out. DW stands for Drum Workshop, a drum kit manufacturing business in Oxnard, California, founded in 1972 by music teacher Don Lombardi and his student, John Good. Although Lombardi had only intended the drum-making to help cover the costs of running a music teaching studio, demand was so great that it soon became his primary business.

Famous drummers who use DW drum kits include Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Grohl from Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Scott Travis from Judas Priest, and Nick Mason from Pink Floyd.

The Avedis Zildjian Company, or Zildjian, is the largest cymbal and drumstick maker in the world. It was founded in Constantinople by Avedis Zildjian, an Armenian metalsmith and alchemist, in 1623, making it one of the oldest musical instrument manufacturers in the world. Avedis Zildjian made his first cymbals in 1618 while working for the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The family eventually emigrated to the US, setting up business in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1929. Business began booming in 1964, after Ringo Starr used Zildjian cymbals during The Beatles‘ famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

At one point, more drummers used Zildjian products than any other brand, and the list of famous customers is extremely long, but does include (besides Ringo Starr), Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters, Charlie Watts from The Rolling Stones, Lars Ulrich from Metallica, and Phil Selway from Radiohead.

A DW drum set with Zildjian cymbals like the one Lane tries out would cost at least $1500 today.

Heavy Metal Drummer

This 2001 song by alternative rock band Wilco plays through the scene when Lane is in the music store. Written by Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett, It’s a track from their most recent album from this episode’s perspective, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The album was acclaimed by critics, and voted among the best albums of the year, going #13 in the US.

The lyrics talk about a girl falling in love with the drummer in a heavy metal band, but Lane subverts that by falling in love with the idea of being a drummer in a band. These scenes where Lane tries out the drums and phones Rory to tell her about them are played like a girl who’s fallen in love at first sight.

Sophie Bloom (Carole King)

Sophie Bloom is the owner of the new music store that opens in Stars Hollow, Sophie’s Music. The role is played by Carole King, who sings the show’s theme song, “Where You Lead (I Will Follow)”. She is a rather grouchy woman, even quite rude, which seems pretty typical for Stars Hollow customer service!

It does raise some interesting questions – Sophie must know of Carole King and her music, doesn’t she wonder why she and Carole King look and sound exactly the same? Or is it possible that Sophie Bloom is an identity that Carole King has taken on so that she can secretly live and work in Stars Hollow?

Sal Mineo and Chachi

TAYLOR: Rory, you don’t have to explain a thing to me. I know that there is absolutely no way that you would be involved in something like that if it weren’t for that Sal Mineo wannabe, believe me. Chachi, and Chachi alone, will be held responsible for that incident, okay?

Salvatore “Sal” Mineo (1939-1976) [pictured], actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role of John “Plato” Crawford, in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, previously discussed. Like Jess, Plato was abandoned by his father and is neglected by his mother, and although treated as a juvenile delinquent, is a sad, lonely boy, desperate for love and affection, and the target of bullies. Plato has a tragic ending, perhaps a bit of wish fulfilment from Taylor.

The role of Plato was played as if the character was a gay teenager in love with James Dean’s character, Jim – the original script even had them sharing a kiss – and Plato is commonly identified as the first gay teen in cinema. Sal Mineo was himself openly bisexual, and unfortunately, like his character, Sal Mineo’s life had a violent ending, as he was murdered in an apparent random mugging.

One fan theory, possibly controversial, suggests that Jess too may be gay or bisexual, and that this is a hint of it – although there’s nothing to disprove that, it seems more likely that Taylor is simply clueless about gay subtext in films.

Chachi, character from television sitcoms Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi, previously discussed.

“My car hit the bench”

RORY: Right. Um, Taylor, listen, I just wanted to apologize to you … About the other night. You know, my car hit the bench that had your brand new Doose’s Market sign on it and I know how much that sign meant to you and I’m just so, so sorry that it was ruined.

Even though the footage showed Rory and Jess driving around with a lot of traffic on their way back from getting ice cream, we now discover that the actual accident occurred in Stars Hollow, when they were nearly home (where most car accidents are said to happen). We also learn that when Jess swerved to hit the small furry animal, he ended up hitting a bench on the sidewalk, which had an advertisement for Doose’s Market on it.

Despite footage clearly indicating that Rory and Jess were out on a busy road, I think we are supposed to believe that they were only driving around Stars Hollow.