Metronome

MISS PATTY: It’s your wedding day. Feel each other. Use the thumping of your heart as a metronome.

A metronome is a device which produces an audible beat at regular intervals. Musicians use it to practice playing to a particular tempo.

This is a music-heavy episode, and the connection between the heart and metronome shows how closely aligned music and emotion is. One of the themes of the episode is how Lorelai must learn to control her feelings to maintain her relationship with Rory, just as the metronome controls the beat of the music.

La Casa

La Casa is the instrumental piece to which Miss Patty teaches the twin couples to dance for their double wedding. It is from the 1996 album Sabor Y Salsa by Graham Preskett and Mauricio Venegas-Astorga.

NSYNC

LORELAI: Oh no – not being attacked by a band of swans. Was it an all-boy band? Kind of a scary, feathery NSYNC kind of fiasco?

NSYNC was an American boy band formed in 1995, consisting of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass. Their second studio album was No Strings Attached, released in March 2000, which was a landmark commercial success for the band, and the #1 album of the year. NSYNC stopped recording together in 2002.

The Stars and Stripes Forever

This patriotic march by American composer John Philip Sousa plays while Miss Patty teaches baton twirling to a class of little girls. Sousa wrote The Stars and Stripes Forever in 1896, and it was first performed in 1897 to immediate enthusiasm. Generally considered Sousa’s masterwork, it is the official National March of the United States, and is usually played for the US President after he finishes a speech.

The Stars and Stripes Forever also has a special meaning in show business, especially the theatre and the circus, where it is known as “The Disaster March”. Traditionally it is used to signal that there is a life-threatening emergency so that staff can handle the audience’s exit without causing panic. One notable use of it in this context was at a circus fire in Hartford in 1944, where at least 160 people were killed.

It’s use in the show at this point may be meant to signify what a disaster of a day Lorelai is having.

“Ooh, a Dixie Chick”

On finding out that Rory is from a small town, Louise calls her a “Dixie Chick”. The Dixie Chicks are a country music band from Texas consisting of Martie Maguire, Emily Robison, and Natalie Maines. Their first album was released in 1990, and they achieved commercial success with Wide Open Spaces in 1998, when they sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined.

I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye to You

This song by Sam Phillips plays as Lorelai and Rory drive through Stars Hollow on their way to Chilton. It is from Phillips’ 1988 album The Indescribable Wow, which was her first album after switching from Christian pop to mainstream alternative rock, and changing her name from Leslie to Sam. The album was well-received by critics, but did not chart.

Apple Venus Volume 2

Lorelai and Rory are on the porch when Lane runs up shouting that she has XTC’s new CD, Apple Venus Volume 2. This refers to Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) by English band XTC, the follow-up or companion to their critically-acclaimed 1999 album Apple Venus Volume 1 – originally conceptualised as a double album. Apple Venus Volume 2 went to #40 in the UK, but did not reach the Top 100 in the US.

Apple Venus Volume 2 was released in May 2000, so it was not really a new CD in September/October 2000. It seems to have been Lane’s first opportunity to buy it, however.

As the scene ends, we hear them playing I’m the Man Who Murdered Love, which is the sixth track on the album, and the only single XTC released from it. They seem to have gone straight to the only song they know from the album.

My Little Corner of the World

This love song plays at the end of the pilot while Lorelai and Rory drink coffee together. With music by Lee Pockriss and lyrics by Bob Hilliard, it was first recorded by Anita Bryant in 1960.

The version used on Gilmore Girls was recorded by indie rock band Yo La Tengo for their 1997 album, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. The song inspired the title of the 2002 compilation album Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls.

I Try

This song by Macy Gray plays while Lorelai and Rory are fighting about her refusal to attend Chilton, with Rory listening to it in her bedroom while Lorelai has it on in the living room. The top-selling single from Macy Gray’s debut album, and her best-selling single to date, it went to #5 in the US and won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. This is a rare example of the Gilmore girls enjoying Top 40 music, which was usually treated disdainfully by the show.

Heartland

This country song by George Strait plays while Lorelai and Rory leave the diner and walk past the hayride after arguing about Rory’s unexpected reluctance to attend private school. The song is from the 1992 album Pure Country, the soundtrack to the musical western film of the same name, which had Strait in the lead role of Wyatt “Dusty” Chandler. The movie bombed, but the soundtrack was a commercial success, and is George Strait’s best selling album. Heartland went to #1 on the US Country charts.