“Margaritaville”, a 1977 song by Jimmy Buffett from his album, Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude. The song is written about the margarita cocktail, which Buffett had just discovered, and the first huge surge of tourists which descended on Key West, Florida, around that time. With lyrics reflecting a laid-back tropical lifestyle, it has come to define Buffett’s music and career. The song went to #8 in the US, #1 on the Easy Listening charts, and #13 on the Country Music charts. It was most popular in Canada, going to #1. It remains his highest-charting single, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jimmy Buffett owns the Margaritaville resort chain, named after the song.
LORELAI: Oh my God … You like Jimmy Buffett? He’s so mellow.
LUKE: I’ve just been to a few shows, that’s all.
LORELAI: A few shows? Oh my God, you’re a Buffett Head.
James “Jimmy” Buffett (1946), singer-songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He began his musical career as a country singer in Nashville in the late 1960s, bringing out his first album, Down to Earth, in 1970.
After busking for tourists in New Orleans, Louisiana, he went on a busking expedition to Key West, Florida, in 1971, he moved there permanently, and began establishing the easy-going beach-bum persona for which he is known. His style of music is called “tropical rock”.
During the 1980s, Buffett made far more money from his extensive touring than from albums, and became known as a popular concert draw. He is one of the world’s richest musicians, with a net worth of over $900 million. Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band gave concerts at the Meadows Music Theater in Hartford almost every year in the late 1990s, giving Luke ample opportunities to see him live.
Jimmy Buffett fans are actually called “Parrot Heads”, not “Buffett Heads” – it’s after the parrot hats all his fans seem to wear. Lorelai appears to recall that the the word head is in there, but not the details. She may have misheard or misremembered the term.
At this point, the viewer, like Luke, thinks that Lorelai says, “Oh my God” because of the Jimmy Buffett shirt. In fact, we later learn she says it because she’s seen Jess’ girlfriend Shane in the closet, and quickly covers for it by immediately gabbling about Jimmy Buffett as a distraction. She certainly gives Jess some hard looks, though, as he continues to confirm, or appear to confirm, all her worst fears about him.
The song Jess has playing when Lorelai is at Luke’s apartment.
“Love Burns” is the opening track of rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s 2001 debut album, B.M.R.C. Released as a single, it went to #37 in the UK the following year. The band were heavily influenced by classic English rock, and tended to do better in the UK than in their home country of the US.
The song’s lyrics speak passionately of Jess’ feelings for Rory, and the depth of his pain and anger caused by her neglect and rejection:
She cuts my skin and bruise my lips She’s everything to me She tears my clothes and burns my eyes She’s all I want to see She brings the cold and scars my soul She’s heaven sent to me
Now she’s gone love burns inside me Now she’s gone love burns inside me Now she’s gone love burns inside me
Never thought I’d leave you like the way I do, yeah Kiss my love and I wish you’re gone You can kiss my love and I wish you’re gone Never thought I’d leave you like the way that I do
Lorelai said in the pilot episode that bad boys have motorcycles. Even though it’s actually “good boy” Dean who has the motorcycle, Jess is still linked with them through the band. The band takes their name from Marlon Brando’s character’s biker gang in the 1953 film, The Wild One.
If Lorelai is listening to the song, it can’t make her feel any more comfortable about Jess. They would tell her he is still obsessed with Rory, and is furious about her. Lorelai has always said that Jess is a messed up, angry kid, and the lyrics are actually a little scary, as a reflection of Jess’ feelings.
Grunge fashion, the clothing, accessories and hairstyles of the grunge music genre and subculture which emerged in mid-1980s Seattle, and reached wide popularity by the mid-1990s. Grunge fashion is characterised by durable and timeless thrift-store clothing, often worn in a loose, androgynous manner. Flannel shirts over shabby tee shirts, ripped jeans, and Converse sneakers or Doc Marten boots were a classic look for men. The style was popularised by music bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.
Despite what Lorelai says, the grunge look has never quite gone away. I’m pretty sure Stars Hollow High wouldn’t have a problem with Luke turning up wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.
LANE: Pink? Or is that too Pink the singer and Kelly Osbourne and Gwen Stefani . . . man, there’s a lot of cheese associated with the color pink. Okay, pink’s out.
Pink, stylised as P!nk, the professional name of Alecia Moore (born 1979), singer, songwriter, actor, and dancer [pictured]. Originally a member of the girl group Choice, she signed with record label LaFace in 1995. Her 2000 debut album Can’t Take Me Home went double platinum, and included the Top Ten hits “There You Go”, and “Most Girls”. Her 2001 album Mizzundaztood sold 13 million copies and yielded the international hits, “Get the Party Started”, “Don’t Let Me Get Me”, and “Just Like a Pill”.
Kelly Osbourne (born 1984), English singer, actress, fashion designer, model, and television personality, the daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer for heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and his wife Sharon Osbourne. Kelly, and the rest of her family, had recently come to prominence with their award-winning reality TV show The Osbournes, which first aired on MTV in March 2002, and lasted until 2005. The show covered the family’s domestic life in Beverley Hills.
Gwen Stefani (born 1969), singer, songwriter, rapper, fashion designer, and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, previously discussed.
At various times, each of these celebrities have sported pink hair.
The song that Lorelai sings in a Louis Armstrong voice to annoy Luke.
“Hello, Dolly!” is the title track to the popular 1964 musical of the same name, the song was written by Jerry Herman. It was first sung by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production, which opened to great success. Louis Armstrong‘s recording of the song was released shortly afterwards, which reached #1 in the US, ending The Beatles‘ streak of three chart-topping hits over fourteen weeks.
“Hello, Dolly!” is Louis Armstrong’s most commercially successful song. It won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received the Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong performed the song with Barbra Streisand in the 1969 film version of Hello, Dolly! [pictured]
The piece by jazz legend John Coltrane Lane is listening to in her bedroom.
“Naima” is a 1959 ballad John Coltrane composed, naming it after his wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. He recorded it for his fifth studio album, Giant Steps, released in 1960. Giant Steps is regarded as one of the most influential jazz albums of all time, while “Naima” was one of his first well-known works, and is a jazz standard. John Coltrane recorded it many times, and it appears on several live albums and compilation albums.
It seems slightly unusual that Lane loves both punk and jazz, but her tastes are clearly eclectic. You may recall she is also a huge fan of jazz legend Charlie Parker.
The song by British indie band Cornershop that Rory is listening to in her bedroom.
“Funky Days Are Back Again” was written by singer and guitarist Tinder Singh. It was the B-side to the 1997 single “Good Ships” (a radio-friendly version of their song “Good Shit”), which went to #107 in the UK. Both songs were tracks on their third studio album, When I Was Born for the 7th Time. The album was critically acclaimed, and named the best album of the year by Spin magazine. It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
DAVE: There’s no way you’re gonna become our Pete Best. There’s no way.
LANE: You’re sweet.
Randolph Peter “Pete” Best (born 1941), English musician known for being the drummer for The Beatles, dismissed immediately before The Beatles found worldwide fame. Fired in 1962 in favour of Ringo Starr, he started his own group, The Pete Best Four, and later joined other bands. He is sometimes referred to as “the fifth Beatle”.
Note how quickly Lane finds a way to tell Dave he is sweet … Maybe Dave touching her arm supportively in this scene had an effect on her.
LANE: Once, a guy in our town named Kirk was practicing “Bohemian Rhapsody” with his band, the Kirk Gleason Five …
Kirk’s band name is a possible allusion to The Jackson 5, a pop band composed of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael Jackson, previously discussed and frequently mentioned. They released their first singles in 1967, and had numerous hits, including the award-winning #1 songs “ABC”, “I Want You Back”, and “I’ll Be There”.
The Jackson 5 received a star on the Walk of Fame in 1980, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. They changed their name to The Jacksons in 1976.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 