Tag: Music

Phil Spector

JESS: Oh, great, what else does she think I did? Start the fire, put Phil Spector up to it?

Harvey Phillip “Phil” Spector (1939-2021), record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship. He developed the Wall of Sound, a production style that is characterised for its dense orchestral sound. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history, and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s.

In February 2003, Phil Spector shot actress Lana Clarkson while in his mansion in Alhambra, California after meeting her in a nightclub only hours before. Her body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth. The emergency call from Spector’s home, made by Spector’s driver quotes Spector as saying, “I think I killed somebody.” The driver added that he saw Spector come out of the back door of the house with a gun in his hand.

This is what Jess is referring to.

The murder went to trial in 2007, and Spector was eventually found guilty in 2009. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and died of Covid-19 while in the Californian state prison system.

Hank Williams

LORELAI: Hank Williams would be too sad to write a song about me.

Hiram “Hank” Williams (1923-1953), singer, songwriter, and musician. He is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western chart, five of which were released posthumously, including 12 that reached No. 1, three of which were released after his death.

Some of his sad songs include “Lovesick Blues”, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “We’re Getting Closer to the Grave Each Day”, and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. Perhaps the one closest to Lorelai’s situation is “A Tramp on the Streets”.

Nomad, The Lonely Wanderer

LORELAI: I’m a nomad … I am the lonely wanderer.

A nomad is someone without a settled home who regularly moves from place to place. Examples of nomads include hunter-gatherers, pastoral herders, tinkers, traders, and itinerants.

Lorelai is possibly referring to the 1963 country song by Slim Whitman, “(I’m a) Lonely Wanderer”. I’m mostly basing this on the fact that she immediately references another country singer.

The New Justin Timberlake

PARIS: I might as well record the new Justin Timberlake over this.

Justin Timberlake (born 1981), singer, songwriter and actor, previously mentioned. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as one of the lead vocalists in the boy band NSYNC, and began a solo career in in the 2000s. His latest single at this point was “Rock Your Body”, released as a single in March 2003 from his 2002 debut solo album, Justified. The song went to #5 in the US, and #1 on both the Dance Club and Mainstream Top 40 charts. It was most popular in Australia, where it went to #1.

“I’m an island”

LUKE: I’m an island.
LORELAI: Luke, I’m sorry about all this, but I’m not anticipating the inn catching fire ever again, so it’s a one time only thing, okay?

Luke refers to the famous quote, “No man is an island” from the poem “Meditation VII” by John Donne. He may also be thinking of the 1965 Simon & Garfunkel song, “I Am a Rock”, which says, “I am a rock, I am an island”, written from the point of view of someone isolated and emotionally detached.

Of course, for all his reclusive ways, Luke is never an island, he is always there for his community. And of course Lorelai always wants him to do “just this one thing” for her, repeatedly. He never says no.

Charlie Rose and Billy Joel

LORELAI: No, you go on ahead, I’ll catch up.
RORY: Okay. Try and make it home in time for Charlie Rose. Billy Joel’s on, and he might cry or something.

Charlie Rose, previously discussed. Billy Joel, previously discussed.

In real life, Billy Joel did not appear on Charlie Rose in 2003. He has been a guest on the show several times, and the one previous to the episode was in October 2001.

Lorelai suggests that Billy Joel “might cry or something” because he suffers from severe depression, and attempted suicide in 1970. In 2002, the year before this episode of Gilmore Girls, he entered a rehab centre and psychiatric hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut for treatment. This show is very insensitive about mental health issues.

Charlie Rose was on Wednesday nights at this time, letting us know the day of the week.

“Go to the ghetto on you”

[Dean sees them and waves. Lindsay glances at Rory]
LORELAI: Oh, I think she’s ready to go to the ghetto on you.

Possibly a reference to the 1998 hip-hop song, “The Geto”, by the rapper Scarface, featuring Willie D, Ice Cube, and K.B, from the album, My Homies. One part says, ” … got to go, to the ghetto”. If so, it may be an attempt to make us believe Lorelai’s earlier assertion that she is “into rap”. It sort of ends up seeming a bit racist.

Satchmo

LORELAI: You named the spider Satchmo?
SOOKIE: After Jackson’s uncle.

Satchmo was the nickname of trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, previously mentioned. The nickname is short for “Satchelmouth”, but its origin is not known. Some say simply because of the size of Armstrong’s mouth, while a story favoured by biographers is that as a young boy in New Orleans, Armstrong would dance for pennies, collecting the coins in his mouth to prevent bigger children from taking them from him.

Jackson’s uncle was apparently named after the short form of a celebrity’s nickname in honour of Louis Armstrong.

Tears for Fears

SOOKIE: You’ll give me lots of tips [on pregnancy]?
LORELAI: Oh, what I can remember.
SOOKIE: Get your diary out from that year ’cause I wanna know it all.
LORELAI: A lot of my diary from that year was, um, a debate over which member of Tears for Fears I loved more at that particular moment.

Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.The band’s debut album, The Hurting (1983), reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart, and their first three hit singles all reached the top five in the UK. Their second album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985), reached #1 in the US, achieving multi-platinum status in both the UK and the US. The album contained two US #1 hits: “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. The band broke up in 1990, but have since brought out albums together, and tour semi-regularly.

When Lorelai was pregnant in 1984, Tears for Fears hadn’t had any chart success in the US, except for “Change” making #73, and doing quite well as a radio track. Lorelai must have been ahead of the curve. This is another example of the teenaged Lorelai enjoying slightly obscure British rock music.