LANE: I’ve almost nailed the fill in “Ramble On”. I just have to stop hitting my face with the sticks when I pull my arms back.
RORY: John Bonham had that same problem.
“Ramble On”, 1969 song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their album Led Zeppelin II. The lyrics were influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, previously mentioned. It is regarded as one of of Led Zeppelin’s greatest songs.
John Bonham (1948-1980), English musician, best known as the drummer for Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for the groove, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rock drummers in history. He has influenced numerous drummers, including Dave Grohl and Neil Peart. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of Led Zeppelin.
Even though Lane is being allowed to practice on real drums twice a week, she is getting in extra practice by banging on Lorelai’s pots and pans, to show how keen she is.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 HotelFoxtrot. 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 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?
RICHARD: Done. Now, what else is on the hit parade?
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by either sales or airplay. Billboard magazine published its first hit parade on January 4 1936.
It’s possible that Richard is specifically thinking of the radio and television music program Your Hit Parade, broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and from 1950 to 1959 on television. Each Saturday evening, the program would play the most popular and bestselling songs of the week. It was invariably referred to, incorrectly, as The Hit Parade.
LORELAI: So, let me guess, the Wu-Tang Clan had the office before you?
RICHARD: Yeah, it’s a bit disheveled, I know.
Wu-Tang Clan, a nine-piece hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York in 1992. Their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) received widespread critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. They are considered one of the most influential hip hop groups, and a key developer of East Coast hip hop and hardcore hip hop.
While recording their 2000 album, The W, the Wu-Tang Clan lived together for three months in a mansion on Mulholland Drive (except for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who was imprisoned at the time). It was probably about as messy as you’d expect for eight men living together, especially as the Wu-Tang Clan are known for their history of internal tensions. Their own recollection is that they turned it into a personal gambling den.
Rather unbelievably, Richard appears to know who the Wu-Tang clan are, and understands what condition their house is in! For someone who didn’t know who Metallica were a few episodes back, he sure has caught up with contemporary music very quickly.
This is the song Kirk dances to in his film – Miss Patty did the choreography.
White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It) is a 1983 song by hip hop artist Mel Melle, written by Melle and Sylvia Robinson, and released as a single. On original release, it was credited to Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, but by that stage Flash and Melle had stopped touring together and were in a legal disagreement.
Originally it was an ironic celebration of the cocaine-fulled party lifestyle, but for commercial reasons was abridged with the “don’t do it” message to warn against the dangers of cocaine. It has an unofficial music video directed by Spike Lee and starring Laurence Fishburne. The song went to #9 on the US Hot Dance Club Play charts, but did best in the UK, where it made #7 on the charts.
Lorelai says that Kirk raps in the film (presumably to the song), but we never hear that happen. Kirk also tells Lorelai he needs to keep the word “damn” in his film to maintain his street cred, but we never hear him say that, either.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 