Gilmore Girls & the Wonderful, Delightful, So Good, Very Awesome Soundtrack
Celebrating 25 Years of Gilmore Girls Fan Mania
Anyone who knows me knows I am a life-long Gilmore Girls fan. It’s probably the whitest thing about me, aside from the gluten sensitivity and the propensity towards folk music.
I just can’t get enough of it. Beyond the family and class dynamics between Lorelai, Rory, Emily, Richard and their extended communities, there’s an level of intelligence to the show that baffles even the most pop culture-oriented amongst us. There’s not a rewatch that goes by where I don’t finally catch a joke I’ve heard hundreds of times and finally go “OH, hahaha.”
This is especially true of the music on the show.
Gilmore Girls is well-known for its musical choices and sequences. Carole King wrote the theme song, “Where You Lead,” and recorded it with her daughter for the show’s title sequence. Sam Phillips became the voice of the show, providing endless musical transitions and songs to underscore emotional turmoil and elation. (La La la…La La La La…La la lalalalalala) After 25 years, they finally released a full version of these here. Cannot wait to piss off my neighbors with this beaut on vinyl!
Yes, it’s clear: music is baked deep into the Gilmore Girls secret sauce. It would not be the show it is without all of its iconic musical moments. The use of The La’s “There She Goes” to open the pilot and introduce us to the enigma that is Lorelai Gilmore is a perfect example of its power. From the jump, it’s clear music plays an essential role in the lives of the Gilmore Girls and their community.
The same could (and should) be said for any scene involving the characters Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano.
⚡DANGER: SPOILERS AHEAD⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡DANGER: SPOILERS AHEAD⚡
Rory Gilmore is one of the titular characters of the show. She’s smart, kind, funny, and a voracious reader. For the most part, Rory is beloved throughout most of the first three seasons of the show. By contrast, Luke Danes’ nephew, Jess Mariano, arrives on the Stars Hollow scene in Season 2 sporting camo, dead eyes, and a severe five-o-clock shadow (Yet, they still want us to believe he’s seventeen). Despite his bad boy first impressions, Jess is also a big reader, the likes of which Rory has never seen before.
In their first scene together, the two have a stilted, monosyllabic conversation about Rory’s bookshelves and Jess’ desire to “bail” on the crockpot dinner Melissa McCarthy’s character Sookie St. James has prepared for them. Rory, ever the good sport, appears to convince him to stay, eat some food, and get to know everyone better. Jess leaves shortly thereafter, fleeing from an angry Lorelai who catches him stealing a beer (cue sitcom audience “Ooooh”).
Later on in the episode, it’s revealed Jess “borrowed” Rory’s copy of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, despite of her earlier, good faith offer to lend it to him. Jess charms the pants off of her with a dorky magic trick and one of the hottest conversations about reading ever written for television (see in the video above). They then proceed to have a billion bits of chemistry fly between them, all underscored by possibly one of the best music supervision choices ever made: Ash’s 1977 hit “Girl From Mars.”
While the song plays, Rory and Jess part ways and share a knowing smile. We can’t explain it, exactly, but we know something has changed. This is also the first time we see Jess—the sullen New Yorker-turned-small town kleptomaniac—express an inkling of genuine interest in someone living in bumfuck Stars Hollow. There is an energy between the two of them that cannot be denied. It’s both a forewarning and a promise of what is to come for their budding friendship and future romantic relationship. With this added context, the lyrics speak for themselves.
Verse 2
Surging through the darkness over the moonlight strand
Electricity in the air
Twisting all through the night on the terrace
Now that summer's here
I know that you are almost in love with me
I can see it in your eyes
Strange light shimmering over the sea tonight
And it almost blows my mind
And as I look to the stars
Fans of the show know Jess and Rory have a rough journey, both individually and interpersonally. There’s a lot of cheating that goes on, as well as some pretty serious miscommunication towards the end of their initial high school fling. Despite having the best on-screen chemistry of any couple on the show and an equally compelling redemption arc, these two do not end up together by the show’s original conclusion or in the 2016 Netflix Revival Series, A Year In The Life. Despite there being clear signs that they should be endgame, their story always ends in one of them pining silently for the other.
TLDR: Together and apart, they are a friggin’ mess.
Still—I am of the persuasion that the writers and show-runners had every intention of setting up a Jess and Rory endgame in the same way Luke and Lorelai were teased from the very first scene in the pilot. I could go into detail about why I think so based on dozens of plot arcs, seven seasons of character development, and the ever-obvious obsession ASP had with keeping Milo Ventimiglia on this fucking show, but none of those actually compare to the cold hard truth.
These two objectively and consistently have the best music underscoring their most important moments. Every time I rewatch that first scene, I have to believe Amy Sherman-Palladino planned for these two to end up together from the get-go. Is that an unrealistic theory? Yes. Am I still running with it? Also, yes.
I already know what you TV heads and screenwriters are going to say. I know, okay? With the exception of shows like Westworld, Game Of Thrones, Severance, and maybe Lost (yikes), most TV writing just doesn’t work that way. Getting through pilot season used to be its own uphill battle. I can’t even imagine trying to write an entire multi-season arc show in that era.
Gilmore Girls also suffers from another infamous TV writing phenomenon. The Palladinos left the show completely after Season 6, and it’s extremely obvious. In the seventh and final season, everything fell completely to shit. Unhinged plots ran away blood-soaked and screaming. Well-established characters started acting decidedly out of character. Worst of all, fans of the first few seasons ultimately rejected it. Some still refuse to claim it as part of the original show.
So—how could I possibly believe ASP planned for those two to end up together?
I’m not just talking about “Girl From Mars” either. Every single Jess/Rory moment hits you square in the chest with a tasteful and relevant song to emphasize the ebb and flow of their emotions.
For instance, in Season 3, when Jess and Rory finally get together, XTC’s “Then She Appeared” plays low as the two casually flirt outside Gypsy’s Mechanic Shop. Then, as the song reaches a brilliant crescendo, they meet in the middle with a searing kiss, thus cementing them as the show’s IT couple. Every millennial woman knows this kiss. Even if you’re Team Logan, this scene is etched in your brain like marble.
Could Dean Forester and Logan Huntzberger do that? No. Not even the Pixies song associated with the aforementioned blonde dick from Yale or the use of Mazzy Star in a dance scene with Dean (Devil Incarnate) in Season 1 could take my attention away from Jess and Rory.
Brit pop. New wave. Indie rock. Glam rock. Riot Grrrl. Trip-hop. Shoegaze. Punk. Heavy metal. These two love and discuss it ALL over the course of the show. How are the other guys supposed to compete with that? Oh, that’s right. They can’t. As Jess so casually reminds Rory in Season 2, Episode 8, “Does he (Dean) even know Bjork?”
Yeah, Rory. Does he?
Another casually incredible moment comes in the form of the infamous “Teach Me Tonight” car scene, wherein Jess and Rory have a serious heart-to-heart about their futures. Rory, ever the optimistic overachiever, aims to convince Jess he could do more than coast and drop out of high school the first chance he gets. As we’ve already seen, he reads more than anyone else. He is clearly capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation about most topics. He rivals Lorelai and Rory’s dynamic for most sarcastic quips and bits.
However, Jess waves her off, insisting college has never been his path. When asked about her plans, Rory proudly admits to wanting to become a war correspondent, the likes of Christianne Amanpour. Jess challenges this idea immediately, noting that kind of lifestyle may “be a bit too rough” for someone like Rory—sheltered, quiet, and seriously dependent on her mother.
This is one of the first glimpses the audience has of Rory’s ultimate series arc, or lack there of. These first seeds of doubt are sewn in that car, with that teenage boy. Can she really make it out there as a hard-hitting journalist? Yet, Jess is empathetic and offers to help prepare her “for the real world” by driving straight at her and screaming in a foreign language.
Can you all guess which song plays under this conversation? Yep, that’s right—Elastica’s “Car Song,” featuring such lyrics as:
Here we go again
I’m riding in your car
Let me count to ten
‘Cause it’s gone way too far
Up my street to nowhere
You know what detours are
Here we go again
And it’s gone way too far
Considering the detour and accident that occur directly after this scene, it’s no wonder this song was chosen. It perfectly captures the moment in a way few other songs could.
This kind of back-and-forth happens between them every moment they’re alone. They challenge each other with honesty and precision, something no other character offers them, even Lorelai and Luke, their guardians and closest confidants. This thread continues through their romantic relationship and beyond in guest appearances from Jess in Seasons 4 and 6.
Season 4 sees a scruffy Jess return to Stars Hollow after leaving a heartbroken Rory behind at the end of Season 3. Whilst he claims to return just to get his car, by the end of the season, it’s clear Jess is still in love with Rory and wants her back.
On the night of his estranged mother’s wedding, he drives to Rory’s dorm room and impulsively begs her to run away with him, to which Rory tearfully screams “No” several times. In a show otherwise known for its comedy, this scene totally rips your heart out, throws it on the ground, and stomps on it. It’s also practically silent until the end when a rejected Jess leaves and Rory sits on a box and starts to cry, thus cementing their “end.”
Or is it?!?!?
In Season 6, when Rory drops out of Yale and starts living with her grandparents, Jess comes back into her life a full-fledged adult and published author. Somehow their previous slacker and overachiever roles have been reversed. While Rory gets defensive and runs away from her problems, Jess has found his life’s purpose in writing and become an indie publisher with friends, a job, and stability.
Oh, how the turn tables.
Their limited scenes in Season 6 have miraculously provided endless fanfic fodder for literati fans since their air dates (myself included). The chemistry between them is off the charts. Step aside Conrad Fisher, Jess Mariano was the OG yearner with great hair!
Of course, Rory is inspired by Jess and his successful attempts to better his life. She goes back to Yale and worms her way into a part time job at the Stamford Gazette. She also reconnects with her estranged mother, which makes for a rewarding mid-season reunion.
I’ve always interpreted Rory’s sudden shift towards going back to Yale as an admission that, yes, she has access to immense privilege (has spent months wallowing in it, actually). She also knows the value of hard work and determination. She sees that Jess has chosen to change his slacker ways and work towards something. That very fact is enough to push her out of her wasted potential, at least for a little while.
When they meet later on in the season at the Truncheon Open House, Jess is wearing a Dinosaur Jr. t-shirt under his blazer (HOT!), while Rory opts for straight hair and an outfit much closer in style to her teenage self. It really makes you wonder what these two thought might happen…Spoiler Alert! They kiss while Rory has a BF (again), she feels guilty (again), and runs away, full of shame, thus breaking his hopeful heart (again).
And that’s kind of—it, at least until the dreaded and deeply disliked Revival came crashing onto the streaming air waves a decade later on Netflix. A Year In the Life has so many problems. I can’t get into it without launching into a full debate, so instead, I will focus on our two favorite characters.
Ten years on, Rory is a freelancing, long-lost mess (again), while the ever-reliable and successful book editor Jess gives her some much needed inspiration (again).
Months later, he’s back and helping her with her new book and watching her wistfully through the front window of the Crap Shack:
Please tell me why a 32-year-old man with biceps that massive, a guy who’s supposedly “long over” whatever relationship these HIGH SCHOOLERS shared in the early aughts, is looking like ⬆️THAT⬆️ at the one that got away. Give me the reason, Amy! Why must you always make my favorite character so damn sad?
I bring this scene up specifically for its use of background music—a short song we now know to be titled “Window.” (Are Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sam Phillips punking us?) Yes, that’s the actual title of the track on the Gilmore Girls Soundtrack release from last year, as if they really are trying to keep us this invested in a show that ended ten years ago. It’s so very clearly a reference to this scene and these characters. Why would they do this if they weren’t hinting at a Jess/Rory endgame?
As the kids would say, that’s crazy work!
I know what I must look to you like right now.
Still, there are just too many plot parallels and specific music supervision choices for it all to be a coincidence. All the evidence leads me to suspect a Jess/Rory endgame was always cooking in ASP’s brain, even if the rest of the writer’s room had to do the best with what they got when not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Gilmore Girls heartthrobs moved on to other TV shows.
I get it. I do. But wow—what a wasted opportunity.
Fingers crossed Netflix and WB work out some kind of deal in the wake of this buy-out to wrap up the show with a semblance of dignity for my girl Rory! They should call me if they need a fan-minded soul in the Writer’s Room. I will absolutely pick up on the first ring.
If you made it this far, I thank you for bearing with me through this drawn out set of unwanted theories about two people who do not actually exist. Whether you’re a fan of the show, the music, or just my ramblings, I appreciate you being here :)
P.S. I invite Team Logan fans to politely debate me in the comments. If you’re Team Dean…I have nothing nice to say about that guy, so I won’t say anything at all.
P.P.S. Dave Rygalski, you hold my heart forever 🩷
Loved the show, but also was frequently frustrated by it for so many reaons. The mother-daughter-daughter dynamic locked me in until season 6 as did the music. Any show that had Sam Phillips soundtracking it was going to be a show I would watch come what may and seeing folks like Grant-Lee Phillips show up was icing on the cake.
team jess forever and ever and ever!