Amy Sherman-Palladino marks the 50th anniversary of Carole King's Tapestry by recalling her involvement in Gilmore Girls theme song

Los Angeles Times

King reworked her 1971 hit "Where You Lead" into a duet with her daughter Louise Goffin for the opening theme of Gilmore Girls. "Where You Lead" was part of King's iconic album Tapestry, which was released 50 years ago today. "After a thousand 'something like that' conversations, someone suggested we just contact Carole. See if she’d let us use the song," Sherman-Palladino writes in the Los Angeles Times. "I was shocked. It seemed crazy. She was a legend and we had a time slot against Friends and Survivor. It seemed like there was no way we were going to get her, or anyone who knew her, on the phone. But somehow, we got word to her people who got word to her, and the next thing I knew I was on the phone with the loveliest person I could ever hope to meet. She said she wanted to remake the song into a mother/daughter valentine, changing the original theme from the journey of a woman following a man to two women devoted to each other. Was I cool with that? I threw up, passed out and then remembered long distance is expensive. Cool. Yes. Very cool. The coolest. The next thing I knew she was rerecording it with her fabulous daughter, Louise Goffin, and a song that meant so much to me for as long as I could remember was now retailored (word? Sigh) to be an ode to the unending bond between a mother and daughter, their love of coffee and the ability to speak at warp speed. Well, the last couple of things were implied. The bottom line is that this wonderful song now was tied to my work. I have never felt so lucky and so honored."