This is the song which Rory listens to while she reads in the dining hall at lunchtime.
Know Your Onion! is a 2002 single by American indie rock band The Shins, a release from their critically-acclaimed 2001 debut album, Oh, Inverted World.
The lyrics are from the perspective of a suitably angry and frustrated loner who’s been shut out of a society they can see through with devastating clarity – a comment on the theme of this episode. It suggests Rory isn’t as content with her lonely position at Chilton as she might appear.
These lines seem especially pertinent:
The songs that I heard The occasional book Were the only fun I ever took And I got on with making myself
Rory spends her lunchtime reading and listening to music because it’s her only authentic choice for doing something she enjoys.
RORY: I’m jumpy. On the Fourth of July, forget it, I’m a wreck. And when the Stars Hollow orchestra begins to play in the gazebo, the guy banging the cymbals, I’m . . . it drives me nuts.
Fourth of July is the date of Independence Day, and often used colloquially as its name. It’s a federal holiday in the US, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Britain on July 4th 1776. A day of patriotic display, music, fireworks, and mid-summer picnics and barbecues.
We never get to see the Fourth of July in Stars Hollow, but of course they would have the same sort of celebrations as elsewhere. Presumably it is the fireworks which make her “jumpy”. Rory tells us that there is a town orchestra who plays in the gazebo on this date – which means the orchestra must be small, that they all fit in the gazebo.
Rory listens to music on her Walkman while she reads, a brand of portable media player made by Sony since 1979 (originally it played cassettes). A prestige model was released in 1999 for the anniversary of its release. The name Walkman is now often used to refer to any similar product, just like Kleenex.
Mrs Verdinas, Rory’s guidance counsellor at Chilton, speaks to her about her lack of socialising at school, which Headmaster Charleston told her about a few weeks ago. Mrs Verdinas is her new guidance counsellor; the previous year it was Mr Summers, who we never saw.
This means that only a short time into the academic year, Headmaster Charleston, who is running an entire school, has decided the big problem he needs to address is Rory reading at lunchtime. How he knows about this is a bit of a mystery, unless he spends his free time stalking students in the dining hall.
In a school with hundreds of students, Mrs Verdinas and Headmaster Charleston have been keeping such a close watch on Rory that they’re bothered she’s been spending her lunch times reading and listening to music. Even though she’s getting good grades, works on the school paper, and interacts well with other students on class projects, none of that counts because she doesn’t have any friends at school.
Apparently colleges don’t accept “loners” (really?), and Chilton isn’t going to write a good letter of recommendation for Rory (have they never heard of simply telling some vaguely-worded white lies?). And friends in class doesn’t count, they have to be friends to eat lunch with. Mrs Verdinas never even checks what Rory is reading – perhaps reading Gore Vidal at lunch is better preparation for college than gossiping with Madeline and Louise?
It isn’t even a matter of Mrs Verdinas having a quiet chat to Rory to suggest she might try socialising a little more outside class, she more or less threatens to ruin Rory’s academic future unless she gets some lunch friends, stat!
Yes, it’s all pretty unbelievable, but that is the plot of this episode.
Rory has trouble packing the books she’s reading into her backpack, which is already filled with school textbooks.
Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
A 2001 biography by American writer Nancy Milford. It examines the life of the American poet, an icon of the Jazz Age who was an influence on Dorothy Parker, who Rory has already read. She has almost certainly read Millay’s poetry as well. This is the book Rory reads on the bus.
The Sound and the Fury
A 1929 novel by American author William Faulkner. Written from the perspectives of several characters, and utilising stream of consciousness, it is both Modernist (like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf) and Southern Gothic (like Eudora Welty). It seems like a natural progression in Rory’s reading, and is her second book to read on the bus, in case she doesn’t feel like reading biography.
The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
A 2001 collection of essays by American writer and intellectual, Gore Vidal, written between the presidency of Bill Clinton and the electoral crisis of 2000. A provocative look at the history, politics and culture of America, including a revisionist look at Mark Twain. An indication of the type of journalism Rory is most interested in, Gore Vidal was the one who promoted the work of Dawn Powell, making it seem as if Rory is allowing each book to open her up to a wider selection of literature. This is her book to read at lunch.
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
A 1980 collection of short stories by Eudora Welty, previously discussed. The 1983 paperback edition won a US National Book Award. Rory obviously enjoyed the novel by Eudora Welty enough to try her short stories. It’s never said what the stories are for; presumably it’s an alternative lunchtime read, or an alternative bus book.
RORY: You gonna walk [to work]? LORELAI: I’m wearing heels. RORY: Change your shoes. LORELAI: I’d have to change my outfit. RORY: Change your outfit. LORELAI: I’d have to walk upstairs. RORY: Suddenly I’m living with Zsa Zsa Gabor.
LORELAI: Do you think [Luke’s] dated anyone since Rachel? RORY: I don’t know. Where would he meet anyone? He’s either here or in his apartment. LORELAI: Maybe he has a secret life. Maybe he’s got a little chippy stowed away in Mount Pilot.
Mount Pilot is a fictional town in the sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68). The show is set in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and Mount Pilot is a neighbouring larger town. Mayberry is apparently based on the real town of Pilot Mountain in North Carolina, with its name inspiring Mount Pilot. (There is a real Mayberry in Virginia, about 22 miles from Pilot Mountain).
The archetypal small town of Mayberry was almost named Taylortown and had a sheriff named Taylor [!!!!!], and like Stars Hollow, only had one traffic light and a cast of lovable eccentric characters. Like Stars Hollow, it was about thirty miles from the state capital, and had a population of ambiguous size.
The name Mayberry is used in popular culture as a term to refer to idyllic small town life and rural simplicity. Lorelai is humorously using the name “Mount Pilot” to mean any real life neighbouring town to the “Mayberry” of Stars Hollow.
“Chippy” is dated American slang for a prostitute or promiscuous woman; it goes back to the late 19th century and is of obscure origin.
LORELAI: The Macarena. You and Lane for hours and hours, for weeks on end. RORY: Hey, we were mocking. You can’t mock the mocking.
Macarena is a Spanish dance song by Spanish group Los del Río about a woman of the same name. Appearing on the 1993 album A mí me gusta, it was an international hit and dance craze in the latter half of 1996 and part of 1997.
In mid-1996, the infectious song became a worldwide hit roughly one year after the Bayside Boys (composed of Mike Triay and Carlos de Yarza) produced a remix of the song that added English lyrics. The reworked song spent 14 weeks at #1, and was the #1 song of 1996. The song stayed in the charts for 60 weeks, the longest reign of a hit song at that time. It is often considered one of the greatest of one-hit wonders, and one of the most enjoyable “bad songs”.
In the US, the song, and its corresponding Macarena dance, became popular around the time of the 1996 Democratic National Convention in August that year. C-SPAN filmed attendees dancing to the song in an afternoon session, something which might have attracted the young Rory to the song.
Lorelai gets revenge by mentioning some of Rory’s musical guilty pleasures.
Bryan Adams
Born 1959, Canadian singer, composer, and guitarist who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Joining his first band at 15, he released his debut album, Bryan Adams, at 20, and rose to fame with his 1983 album, Cuts Like a Knife. His 1984 album Reckless made him a star, with hits such as Run to You and Summer of ’69. His 1991 song Everything I Do (I Do It For You) went to #1 around the world, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. He did a 1996 duet with Barbra Streisand, one of Lorelai’s favourites. Rory had a poster of him on her bedroom wall for two years; this doesn’t seem quite believable, as he reached his peak when she was seven, a bit younger than the usual age kids start putting posters of pop stars on their wall. Another case of Rory being a precocious child, or perhaps, like Lorelai, she is fond of the music that was big when she was a small child?
The Spice Girls [pictured]
A British pop group formed in 1994, with a mantra of “girl power”, they are one of the most recognisable acts of the British pop music resurgence of the 1990s. Their 1996 debut single Wannabe went to #1 around the world, the start of their global success as the face of a marketing juggernaut aimed at girls and young women. They went on hiatus in 2000, but have reunited for two concert tours since. The group has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling girl group of all time, and the biggest British pop success since The Beatles. They became big when Rory was twelve – bang on time for an interest in pop music. Her being a fan of a girl group seems suspiciously like Lorelai’s obsession with girl group The Bangles.
Dido
Born Florian Armstrong in 1971, English singer and songwriter with a distinctive voice. She attained international success with her 1999 debut album, No Angel, which had hit singles such as Here With Me and Thank You. It sold over 21 million copies and won several awards. This seems to be quite a recent guilty pleasure, dating to when Rory was about fifteen.
Rory teases Lorelai about some of her other musical guilty pleasures.
The Bay City Rollers
A Scottish pop group known for their teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They’ve sold more than 120 million records worldwide, and their biggest hit is Bye, Baby, Baby, from 1975. It’s never confirmed that Lorelai ever actually liked them, and Rory seems to mention them as a trick to get Lorelai to confess her real guilty pleasure.
Born 1948, British-Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Four-time Grammy Award winner with five #1 songs, she has sold 100 million records worldwide. Her biggest hits include I Honestly Love You (1974) and Physical (1981). In 1978, she starred in the musical film Grease, previously mentioned, whose soundtrack remains one of the most successful in history. In 1980 she starred in the musical film Xanadu, which was a box-office disappointment and panned by critics, but has become a cult classic (is this the reason Lorelai likes her?).
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 