Calling all ’70s rock and roll fans: Daisy Jones and The Six premiered its first three episodes on March 3. Not only were the episodes released on Amazon Prime Video, but the entire Aurora album from the show was also released on music streaming platforms. Prior to the album release, Daisy Jones and The Six released two singles gearing up for the show’s premiere, “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)” and “Regret Me” on Feb. 15. While the songs were instantly popular, fans of the Daisy Jones and The Six novel were divided about the lyrics, because they differed from what was written in the book.
Daisy Jones and the Six is a miniseries about a fictional 1970s rock band led by Daisy Jones, a singer-songwriter, and Billy Dunne, the lead singer of The Six. The show is based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best-selling novel of the same name, and it follows the band’s collaboration, love triangles, rifts, overall success, and eventual demise. (If that isn’t a crazy, drama-filled show to add to your watchlist, I don’t know what is.) The novel’s lyrics serve as an extension of the plot and sometimes highlight a character’s emotional state.
“Look at Us Now (HoneyComb)” received the most backlash from fans for its lyrical changes. The song was originally written by Billy in the novel for The Six about reflecting on his wife, Camila, and the life they dream of fulfilling. Daisy then transforms the song into a series of questions rather than statements. The lyrics read, “Will the life we want wait for us?/Will we live to see the lights coming off the bay?/Will you hold me, will you hold me until that day?” According to a Fansided article, this introduced doubt into the song, which Billy couldn’t stand. Daisy’s song interpretation and change stuck with the group, furthering Daisy Jones and The Six’s collaboration efforts.
The show’s rendition of the song omitted this section entirely, and Billy says in the show that the song is about “starting a new life, it’s about dreaming of something different.” Fans were curious as to what Billy meant, and because the lyrics were a pivotal plot point in the novel’s story, it raised more questions about Billy and Camila’s relationship in the series, as well as how much the plot might differ from the novel’s events.
“Regret Me” also received mixed reactions due to its changes. Daisy writes “Regret Me” in the novel with a stick of eyeliner after Billy rejects her and continues his relationship with Camila; the song is written in only 10 minutes and showcases Daisy’s anguish over the rejection. Fans were most moved by the line “And, baby, when you think of me/ I hope it ruins rock ‘n’ roll.”
In the TV version, the lyrics have been almost entirely changed, and the iconic line has been removed. While some fans are upset about the line changes, others prefer the television remake, specifically the lines: “I’m the slippage in the system/And I’m perfectly ready to strike/So go ahead and regret me/But I’m not easing up on this mic.” Blake Mills, songwriter and producer, led the process of crafting music alongside Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers, and Jackson Browne for the Aurora album on the series.