Where You Lead

“Where You Lead” is a song written in 1970 by Carole King with lyricist Toni Stern, introduced on King’s iconic 1971 album Tapestry. A Top 40 hit for Barbra Streisand in both a studio and a live version — the latter in a medley entitled “Sweet Inspiration/ Where You Lead'” — the song has also served as the main theme song for The WB dramedy series Gilmore Girls in a lyrically revised version recorded by King and Louise Goffin. “Where You Lead” is one of two Carole King/ Toni Stern collaborations featured on Tapestry, the other being the #1 single “It’s Too Late”. King had written the music and the majority of the lyric for “Where You Lead” when she solicited the assistance of Stern, saying: “I can’t write the bridge to this: if you can figure out the bridge you can get [co-writing] credit for the song.” Disliking the arguably servile stance of the song as written by King so far, Stern swiftly conceived lyrics for its bridge which she felt expressed a more empowered narrative voice. The lyrics Stern submitted to King included the lines: “…if you want to live in fucking New York City / Honey you know I will”: King herself deleted “fucking”, then sought Tapestry producer Lou Adler’s approval of the “New York City” reference; Adler’s approval was forthcoming and the lyrics for “Where You Lead” were thus complete. Inspired by the Book of Ruth, where it says: “Where you go, I will go”, “Where You Lead” was described by Rolling Stone Magazine critic Jon Landau as an “ingratiatingly witty song that seems to parody the romantic extremes of some of Carole’s earlier work.”[3] Landau also praises the power of Russ Kunkel’s drumming on the song.[3] Author James Perone states that a superficial reading of the lyrics could suggest that the song reinforces stereotypes that a woman should not put her desire for a career ahead of pleasing her husband.[4] But he goes on to say that the singer has actually made “an informed and empowered decision” to follow her man “because of the life changing impact” the relationship has had on her. The 2008 “Legacy Edition” release of Tapestry coupled a remastered version of the Tapestry album with a second disc which featured live performances by King – from concerts in 1973 and 1976 – of all of the songs from Tapestry except for “Where You Lead”, reflecting the fact that soon after the release of Tapestry King came to the realization that “Where You Lead” was somewhat politically incorrect and as a result stopped performing it live, only reinstating the song in her concert setlists following its 2000 lyrical revision