Is "If You Lead" Returning To 'Gilmore Girls'?

If your heart still warms to the sound of "If You Lead" like a coffee slowly brewing we may have some jarring news about the upcoming Gilmore Girls Netflix revival. In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview discussing why the reboot starts in Winter, discussion turned to Carole King, the legend behind the Gilmore Girls opening theme. Speculation is that King's "You've Got A Friend" may be used in the Gilmore Girls revival... potentially as the new opening credits. Bustle reached out to Netflix for comment and did not immediately hear back.

"I always assumed that it was ‘You’ve Got a Friend:’ Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall," Graham said when asked about the show kicking off with Winter. "And I always assumed they were going to ask her to use that song. I don’t know if that’s true. That’s just what I figured, given that she did our theme song and is a part of the show."

Now, Graham is quick to say that there's nothing confirmed about this, it's merely an assumption because King is the musical mistress of Stars Hollow (kind of literally, as she's returning as music shop owner Sophie Bloom). Technically, we shouldn't panic about the theme song being switched out just yet. But then Graham revealed something horrifying: the old Gilmore Girls theme and new Gilmore Girls show were filmed on different platforms.

"Our old title sequence is on film, and we’re in a digital world now," Graham said. "Do you use that same title sequence from 15 years ago? Do you use part of it? Do you put music at the end? When do you do the credits? It can’t be the same" Ok, now you can feel free to panic.

Among everything we've discussed in anticipation of the revival—from how Richard's death would be handled to whether you're Team Dean, Team Jess, or Team Logan—it didn't even concern me that the theme song might be in jeopardy. It does, however, make sense that they wouldn't keep things exactly the same; like any normal show, Gilmore Girls would periodically update the opening credits with new footage. The assumption, if there was any assumption, was that the theme song would accompany some scenes from the revival.

But the song itself being switched out was never really a consideration. If it King's "You've Got A Friend" were to replace "If You Lead," it wouldn't be such a horrifying switch, so long as it's keeping with the same voice of the show. The song definitely doesn't have the same energy of "If You Lead," but hey, these are Gilmore Women we're dealing with, maybe they're slowing down. Or, Gilmore Girls could pull a Full House: when Fuller House hit Netflix, it came with Carly Rae Jepson covering "Everywhere You Look," as if to say, "Hey, look how hip and modern we are." That somehow seems less likely, as Full House as a franchise is a bit more liberal with cheese and kitch than the Gilmores (they're more about wit and coffee).

"To me, part of the nostalgia of the show is that opening, so… I don’t know what they’re going to do," Graham said, after working us up into a frenzy. Now, neither do I. But even though the theme song is an iconic part of the series, I won't abandon the show when it premieres November 25 (and oh, how I'm counting the days). Where the Gilmores lead, I will follow.

Images: Netflix (1); Giphy (2)