Tag: Music

Dave Kisses Lane

LANE: Really? After all this – the marathon hymns, the weak punch, the crabby Koreans, you still wanna go out on a date with me?

[Dave nods, then kisses her] DAVE: I’ve gotta go . . . but I’m gonna call you tomorrow.

Lane and Dave puts into place what I assume to be another step in their plan when Lane says she needs to run after Dave to return his Bible. Did Dave really bring a Bible with him, and purposefully leave it behind, or did Lane prepare and plant the Bible in advance?

Either way, one or the other had the genius idea of having Dave inscribe the Bible: This Bible belongs to God, but is being used by Dave Rygalski. Mrs Kim reads this, and it immediately convinces her that Dave is a solid young Christian man, and allows Lane to go after him.

This episode is the one where Dave and Lane kiss for the first time, and begin dating (Rory kissed and began dating both Dean and Jess around Thanksgiving, too, and it was when Lorelai went on her first date with Max – November, it’s dating month on Gilmore Girls!).

Lane is so excited by what happened that when she pages Rory to tell her all about it, she can only write bible kiss bible, which Rory says is a great band name.

Lady Marmalade

CLAUDE: And you, my dear? [how much French do you speak?]

LORELAI: Even less. Uh, voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir? That’s about it …

CLAUDE: It’s a pop song, ah, Monique . . . I did not know that.

MONIQUE: “Lady Marmalade”.

“Lady Marmalade”, a 1974 pop song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, performed by R&B group Labelle, it went to #1 in the US and Canada. The song has been covered several times, including the 2001 version from the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack by Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink, and Li’l Kim, which also went to #1.

The song is famous for the repeated refrain of Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?, which translates to: “Do you want to sleep with me?”.

Monique gets Lorelai’s joke and is familiar with the song – the 2001 version went to #12 in France, although earlier cover versions had charted there as well, if not so high.

Clemenceau

RICHARD: And this is our international contingent, Claude and Monique Clemenceau. They’re just in from France.

The Clemenceaus have been given the same surname as Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), Prime Minister of France from 1906-1909, and again from 1917-1920, leading France through the end of World War I.

It is surely not a coincidence that Georges Clemenceau has a Connecticut connection. He fled France in 1865 due to involvement in radical politics during the regime of Napoleon III. He ended up teaching at a girl’s school in Stamford, Connecticut, where he fell in love with one of his students, Mary Plummer (1849-1922). They married in 1869 and moved to France a year later. They separated in 1876 and divorced in 1891, after which Clemenceau had Mary sent back to the US. From his time in the US, Clemenceau developed a strong faith in American democratic ideals.

Georges Clemenceau was a friend, biographer, and supporter of the famous French artist Claude Monet. Given Claude’s first name, this also does not seem like a coincidence. Notice that the name Monique sounds similar to Monet, as if both French guests have been named after the painter.

Claude is played by Michael des Barres, an English marquis, actor and rock singer. He played Murdoc in the original Macgyver and had a lead role in the show’s reboot, and replaced Robert Palmer in the band The Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert. He has had roles in numerous TV series and some films, including To Sir With Love, Pink Cadillac, and Mulholland Drive. A long-term campaigner against drug abuse, he is currently a radio host for Sirius XM.

Monique is played by Lydie Denier, a French-American model, singer, and actress. She has appeared in a few films and a number of TV programs, including General Hospital, Melrose Place, and Spin City.

Free Bird

EMILY: I thought a little background music would add a nice touch. He knows every song ever written.

LORELAI: “Free Bird”! Hi Brad.

“Free Bird” or “Freebird” is a song by rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zan. The song featured on the band’s 1973 debut album. Released as a single in 1974, “Free Bird” got to #19 in the US. A live version of the song got to #38 in 1977. It is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s signature song, the finale during live performances, and their longest song, often going well over 14 minutes when played live.

The lyrics sound like something Lorelai would relate to in regard to her parents:

But if I stay here with you …
Things just couldn’t be the same
‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now
And this bird you cannot change
Oh, oh, oh, oh …
And this bird, you cannot change
Lord knows, I can’t change

Hymn 17

Mrs Kim asks Dave to play “Hymn 17” while they eat dinner. Lane was hoping to persuade her mother to let Dave eat Thanksgiving dinner with them, but alas, she has apparently hired Dave to play while they eat.

I’m not really sure about this one, but in the Seventh Day Adventist hymnal, No. 17 is “Lord of All Being, Throned Afar”, written and composed by Oliver Wendell Holmes . The lyrics are quite interesting if you read them as pertaining to Lane and Dave’s situation:

Lord of all being, throned afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Centre and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!
Yet to each loving heart how near!

Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray
Shed on our path the glow of day;
Star of our hope, Thy softened light
Cheers the long watches of the night,
Cheers the long watches of the night.

Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;
Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;
Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign;
All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine,
All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Before Thy ever-blazing throne
We ask no lustre of our own,
We ask no lustre of our own.

Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
And kindling hearts that burn for Thee;
Till all Thy living altars claim
One holy light, one heavenly flame!
One holy light, one heavenly flame!

Yes, their loving hearts are near (nearer than Mrs Kim realises!), and they hope for the day that truth will make them free. It feels like an ardent prayer for mercy upon them so that their “kindling hearts” will eventually be “one flame”.

The Man Who Sold the World

Dave plays the opening riff to this David Bowie song just before he begins the hymn. It is a little nod to Lane, who is a Bowie fan, and possibly a reference to his own name.

“The Man Who Sold the World” is the title track to Bowie’s third studio album, which was released in 1970 in the US and 1971 in the UK. Its lyrics are cryptic and evocative, based on several poems, and the vocals are haunting. It wasn’t released as a single, and only gained attention when it was covered by other artists, such as Lulu, Midge Ure, and Nirvana, whose version brought it to a new audience. It is now considered one of Bowie’s best songs.

Frank at the Sands

RORY: This will get better over time, I promise. But until then, let’s just play it cool.

JESS: Hey, I’m Frank at the Sands.

Frank Sinatra was a regular performer at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, with his first performance there in 1953 – he later bought a share in the hotel. There is a 1966 live album of one of his performances called Sinatra at the Sands, which includes many of the biggest hits and a comedy monologue. The album was reissued in 1998, and Jess may have bought it.

Lane is also a fan of Frank Sinatra, and this seems like another thing she and have in common that could bring them together, but somehow the two never become friends.