Gilmore Girls

Charli Carey
ENGL 199-005
Prof Santos
Where Who Leads?
        This week, we talked about many of the different women artists from the fifties and sixties. One that was mentioned but wasn’t talked about too much was Carole King. Most people nowadays know her from the “Gilmore Girls” theme song, or perhaps the more recent Broadway Musical about her. But, is it the “Gilmore Girls” theme song that interested me the most about Carole King. The song “Where You Lead” was originally released on her 1971 album “Tapestry.”
        As we saw in class, the time period leading up to when this song was originally released, was a time where women were quiet members of any family. Many of the videos showcased this perfectly. We saw that the man was pretty much the one who was always right, and that their wives were expected to agree with and stand by them. When Carole King originally came out with this song, the lyrics were a staple of the society at that time. “Where you lead, I will follow, anywhere that you tell me to,” talks about a women who will lovingly follow wherever her man may take her. It directly related to the time.
        When this song became the theme for “Gilmore Girls” it took on a completely different meaning. Louise Goffin, Carole King’s daughter who sang the song with her, told buzzfeed that her mom had not been singing the song anymore because the lyrics were no longer relevant. However, when they re-recorded it, it became a song about the caring relationship between a mother and a daughter. Louise Goffin continues to tell buzzfeed that the re-recording of this song was completely a family matter, which made it even more special. The song then became not only more relevant to the theming of “Gilmore Girls” but also more relevant to the time period of the 2000s and now. Instead of being the symbol of a women following her man, it was the symbol of a mother loving her daughter. And this reached thousands of different women across the united states. It was not just a love between a mother and a child. It could be between “female friendship, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and so many other platonic yet meaningful women-centric relationships” (buzzfeed).
        This song was extremely relevant in the year 2000 when “Gilmore Girls” was first released. However, it can still be relevant now. With the more recent revival of this show, and the fact that it is found on popular streaming services like netflix, means that its message is still reaching the younger generations. I know that I had never heard of “Gilmore Girls” until around 8 years after is had wrapped when I was fifteen. But the theme of the show and its theme song still sticks with me and many of my friends as a positive message towards todays viewpoint of women.

Works Cited
Yandoli, Krystie Lee. The Full Story Behind How The "Gilmore Girls" Theme Song Came To Be. Web. 30 Oct. 2018.