Tag: Music

“You like piña coladas”

RORY: You like piña coladas.

LORELAI: And getting lost in the rain.

A piña colada is a cocktail made with rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk or cream, served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge, a maraschino cherry, or both. The cocktail originated in Puerto Rico, is its national drink, and its name means “strained pineapple” in Spanish. One story is that the cocktail was invented by Puerto Rican pirate, Roberto Confresi in the 19th century; the less exciting but more probable version is that it was invented in 1954 at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico by bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero.

Lorelai refers to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”, written and recorded by British-American singer Rupert Holmes, released as a single from his 1979 album Partners in Crime. The song is about a man who is bored with his current relationship, and answers a lonely hearts advertisement in the newspaper which begins, “If you like piña coladas …”. When he meets up with the lady, it turns out to be his partner, who was equally bored in their relationship. They realise they had more in common than they realised, and their relationship is now reinvigorated. It was an international hit, and went to #1 in the US and Canada. Ironically, Rupert Holmes has never drunk a piña colada, and the original lyrics were, “If you like Humphrey Bogart”.

Lorelai gets the words slightly wrong. The lyrics are actually:

If you like piña coladas

And getting caught in the rain

not getting lost in the rain.

Peyton Sanders

While attending her mother’s charity auction, Lorelai runs into an attractive man at the bar, and takes an immediate shine to him. Although they don’t exchange names or details, Lorelai will later discover his name is Peyton Sanders. They go on a date together, but despite their initial attraction, Lorelai discovers that Peyton is a world-class bore and they have nothing in common except (apparently) both liking David Bowie.

Peyton is played by Jon Hamm. His first role was Gorgeous Man at the Bar (uncredited) on Ally McBeal, so this was a return to his origins – at least this time he got a named role, and was credited! In 2000-2001, he had a recurring role on Providence, a quirky feel-good romantic drama about a woman returning to her home town in Rhode Island and getting help from her mother’s ghost.

Jon Hamm went on to have a successful career in film and television, gaining household recognition as Don Draper, the anti-hero protagonist of Mad Men (2007-2015), a drama set in an advertising agency in the 1960s. Alexis Bledel would later have a short role on Mad Men in 2012, which is when she began dating her husband, Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell on the show, a man who has an affair with Alexis’ character, Beth Dawes.

Kettle Drums

LORELAI: Let’s go to Al’s Pancake World for a change. He’s doing a salute to Jamaica again.

RORY: Okay, as long as Al doesn’t play the kettle drums all night.

Timpani, also known as kettledrums, a type of drum consisting of a membrane stretched over a large bowl, traditionally made of copper. They are an instrument which dates back to ancient times, but have been used in classical orchestras since the 16th century. In reggae music, which comes from Jamaica, the timpani can be used as a percussion instrument, although it isn’t the most common type of drum used.

We Owe You Nothing

When Luke gets home, he finds Jess reading this book.

We Owe You Nothing: Punk Planet – The Collected Interviews is edited by Daniel Sinker, and was published in 2001. It’s a collection of interviews from Punk Planet zine, which we already know Jess is a fan of, and a nice bit of continuity. There are interviews with people such as Jello Biafra, Kathleen Hanna, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye from Fugazi, and Noam Chomsky.

If I Only Had a Brain

[Rory and Lane are in the bathroom. Lane’s hair is bleached blonde.]

LANE: It’s weird.

RORY: Like straw.

LANE: I feel like I should be singing ‘If I Only Had a Brain.’

“If I Only Had a Brain”, a song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg, for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, previously discussed and frequently mentioned. In the film, it is sung by Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow, imagining all that he could achieve, if he only had a brain instead of straw stuffing in his head (just as Lane feels that her bleached hair is like straw).

There seems be yet another dig at blondes here, that dyeing your hair blonde automatically makes you brainless.

I Don’t Mind

The song that is playing while Rory dyes Lane’s hair purple.

“I Don’t Mind” is a 2000 song by all-girl dream-pop band Slumber Party, from their self-titled debut album. The band received rave reviews from critics, but never made much of an impression on the public. The general consensus is that they just sounded too different from other bands in the early 2000s, and the word “underrated” for once doesn’t seem out of place here. Another shout-out to a girl band!

The opening stanzas say:

I don’t mind if you find
someone’s God, if he were different than mine
every time, by design
He’s hearin’ you and you

I just wanna be true
Live my life in the summer night with you
Whenever I go, remind me I’ve been gone for so long

The lyrics suggest that Lane is open to a relationship with Dave even if he doesn’t’ share her religion or worship God the same way. It ends on a worrying note:

I don’t mind if you find
The girl of your dreams and leave me behind

It’s as if Lane is already fearing for the future and preparing to let Dave go, when she’s only just fallen for him. Fortunately, this level of pessimism is unnecessary right now.

“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”

LORELAI: Oh, we’re happy to be here, right?

LUKE: Yup, zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”, a song composed by Allie Grubel with lyrics by Ray Gilbert for the 1946 Disney film, Song of the South. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on the Uncle Remus stories adapted by Joel Chandler Harris, taking place in the Reconstruction era of the South, after the Civil War.

The song is sung by James Baskett in the film, who stars as Uncle Remus, and it won the Oscar for Best Original Song, while Baskett received an Honorary Academy Award, making him the first male black performer to win an Oscar. Song of the South was controversial upon its release for its portrayal of African-Americans, and has remained so.

The song has very upbeat lyrics:

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh, my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!

Naturally Luke is being sarcastic.

Vin Diesel

LANE: Thinking about the last movie I saw. Vin Diesel was in it. Thinking about Vin Diesel now. Thinking about where Vin Diesel got the name Vin Diesel. Thinking about Vin Diesel’s mysterious ethnicity.

Vin Diesel, professional name of Mark Sinclair (born 1967), actor and producer. One of the world’s highest-grossing actors, he is best known for his role in the Fast & Furious film franchise, the first one being released in 2001. His professional name is taken from his mother’s maiden name, Vincent, and the fact that he is highly energetic.

His most recent film at this point was XXX, which came out in August 2002. Vin Diesel plays Xander Cage, a thrill-seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious athlete, turned reluctant spy for the National Security Agency. Cage is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential Russian terrorists in Central Europe. It was a commercial success and received mixed reviews. The film’s soundtrack made #9 on the album charts, and #1 on the soundtrack charts, which might have been a reason Lane wanted to see it. She presumably watched it during her summer vacation.

In a 2001 interview, Vin Diesel described himself as being of “ambiguous ethnicity” – Lane seems to be alluding to this statement. He was raised by his white mother and adoptive African-American father, but his biological father’s origins are a mystery, although reported to be part African-American. Vin Diesel has never met him, and says all he knows from his mother is that he “has connections with many cultures”. He added, “Italian, and a whole lot of other stuff”. (Wouldn’t a DNA test provide some answers?).

Diesel considers himself to be a person of colour, and made a film about his ambiguous ethnicity in 1995 called Multi-Facial. On film, he has played characters from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (Italian, Cuban, Jewish etc), and their ethnic background is never essential to the plot.

[Picture shows Vin Diesel in XXX]

Cities in Dust

This is the song playing at Lane’s house when Rory is bleaching her hair, so that it can later be dyed purple.

“Cities in Dust” is a 1985 song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released as the lead single from their 1986 album Tinderbox. It’s a goth rock and dance-pop song describing the 79 AD destruction of the city of Pompeii by the the volcano Vesuvius. It went to #21 in the UK, and #17 on the Dance Club charts in the US, the band’s first significant success.

The song has quite often been chosen for soundtracks, including by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, another Amy Sherman-Palladino TV show.

The lyrics about the burning down of the city seem to mirror Lane’s feelings that she is burning all her bridges by dyeing her hair. This is reinforced by the fact that the bleach soon starts burning her scalp.