Julee Cruise in ‘Twin Peaks: The Return’, Part 17

Julee Cruise returned to The Roadhouse when Part 17 of Twin Peaks: The Return aired on Sept. 3, 2017. She was part of a revolving jukebox of musicians who performed in the small town bar. Her performance of “The World Spins” would be the final time she appeared on screen for the wonderful and strange show. As part of the Julee in June takeover of Twin Peaks Blog, here is a closer look at this powerful moment.

FILMING JULEE CRUISE IN ‘TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN’ – PART 17

For Twin Peaks: The Return, the music acts at the end of each episode were never part of the original script according to Dean Hurley in an article published on Sept. 3, 2017 by Daniel Dylan Wray’s article for Pitchfork titled “The Secrets Behind the Music of “Twin Peaks: The Return”

“‘It wasn’t in the script,’ Hurley tells me, adding that the scenes were constructed to allow editorial fluidity—to act as a punctuation tool—because Lynch imagined ‘The Return’ not as a TV show but rather an 18-hour film broken down and shown in parts.”

Hurley later told Scott Ryan for his book “Always Music in the Air: The Sounds of Twin Peaks,” that David Lynch’s music agent at CAA, Brian Loucks, was instrumental in finding the musical acts.

“[Brian] was the one who orchestrated the original Warner Bros. Floating Into The Night LP, and he’s been with David ever since that,” Dean explained. “When we were working on music possibilities, he was sending me hot people he was working with.”

All musical acts were filmed at the Woman’s Club of South Pasadena, located at 1424 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena, CA, in early March 2016.

For Julee’s performance of “The World Spins,” she was backed by members of the now defunct band The Chromatics including Ruth Radelet on synthesizer, Nat Walker on drums, Adam Miller on guitar and Johnny Jewel on a 1973 Rhodes piano.

Johnny Jewel spoke with Dylan Wray for the 2017 Pitchfork article:

“’I was really manic about doing it because the song is six minutes long and it’s non-linear—it’s a very, very odd piece of music,’ says Jewel. ‘For about a week and a half, it was the only song we listened to – we would play it six to eight hours a day, over and over.’ He even played the original Rhodes piano from 1973 that Badalamenti used for the original series on set.

“Jewel and his bandmates were so keen for Cruise to be the focus when filming that they consciously tried to fade into the background. ‘I didn’t want there to be any distraction on stage,’ he says. ‘The old Roadhouse bands were these rockabilly greaser types, all in black, so I had the band wear black. We were aiming to be shadows.’

JULEE PERFORMS “THE WORLD SPINS” AT THE ROADHOUSE

The last time we heard Julee sing “The World Spins” was in Twin Peaks episode 2.007 which aired on Nov. 10, 1990.

For Part 17, the song begins as a fade from the woods of Olallie State Park outside of North Bend, Washington.

As the scene fades, Julee is seen on stage in front of red curtains reminiscent of her performance long ago. The song picks up with Julee singing, “The dog and bird are far away.” Her original song was 6-minutes and 38-seconds but the television broadcast was cut to roughly 2-minutes and 35-seconds. This would be a point of contention with Julee once the episode aired.

Steve Appleford detailed Julee’s return to The Roadhouse in a Los Angeles Times article published on Sept. 4, 2017. It’s an invaluable resource for what transpired during the shoot.

“[David Lynch] said, ‘Juice, you are a child full of wonder,’ recalls Cruise, a longtime musical collaborator with Lynch. ‘And he meant it. If he means it, then I’m going to do it.’

As she sang, the end credits rolled beginning with the memorable “Starring Kyle MacLachlan” which typically signified the week’s episode was drawing to a close. Appleford continued.

“For Cruise, it meant once again performing a song that has helped define her idiosyncratic career and the recognizable sound texture of many Lynch films ‘It gives me goose bumps: `Dust is dancing in the space,’ she says of the lyrics. ‘How many times have we seen that but haven’t been able to write it? That is a beautiful lyric. It’s that life goes on – it does.'”

“‘I will always be known as this,’ Cruise says [to Appleford] of her work with Lynch, “and I will always be proud of this.”

Credits continued rolling, which included one for “Julee Cruise as Herself.”

To shoot her performance for Part 17, Cruise flew to the Roadhouse interior set. Lynch asked her to dress in what she would normally wear for a concert. After two takes, she was done.

Julee continued singing as the production credits rolled. Johnny Jeweled shared his experience from the 2016 shoot with Pitchfork in 2017.

“Though Lynch generally let the various Roadhouse bands simply do their thing, according to Jewel, the director did whisper something to Cruise that changed their scene dramatically. ‘The first take felt very logical, but then after David spoke to her, the second take was insane. The feeling on stage was so incredible. The difference was night and day.’ The performance with Cruise proved to be an overpowering one for Jewel. ‘I held it together at the Roadhouse, but when we left I completely lost it and was sobbing uncontrollably for hours,’ he says.

The episode also contained a song credit for “The World Spins” which featured music by the late Angelo Badalamenti with lyrics by David Lynch.

Julee stayed on set to watch, Rebekah Del Rio, perform “No Stars,” with Moby on guitar and Twin Peaks: The Return prop master Mick Flores on drums. Her performance was used at the end of Part 10.

Julee said, “She did two takes. It was amazing.” With Rebekah’s passing on June 23, 2025 at the age of 57, this memory takes on an even more special meaning.

Julee’s performance, even at roughly two-and-a-half minutes, was incredibly moving and heartfelt.

It would take the Twin Peaks: From Z to A Collection for us to see the entire performance. A bonus feature included uncut concert footage from all of the musicians who performed at the Roadhouse.

“I won’t watch the show yet. It’s got to be on my terms,” Julee told Pitchfork in 2017. “I have to watch it in an intimate setting by myself.” She explained that she will watch it as the marathon 18-hour film Lynch has described the new limited series as. “It’s very personal.”

As the final credits roll, Julee and the band fade to shadows. It’s the final time we will hear her angelic voice in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s show.

JULEE CRUISE’S REACTION TO THE BROADCAST ON SEPT. 3, 2017

Once the episode aired on Sept. 3, 2017, Julee took to Facebook to express strong feelings about the truncated performance: “I’m done. and I could care Less about TP My subconscious never lies……I have my answer.”

She expressed additional comments in response to fans who offered encouragement and support. There was a theme about being disrespected that she had expressed decades earlier when creating her 1993 album “The Voice of Love.”

Carli Velocci’s article for “The Wrap“ on Sept. 5, 2017 contains additional details about Cruise’s concerns

“In the comments, she explained that her complaints revolve around her performance, which she said was cut short. Cruise said that she had to be convinced to join the show after trying to ‘hide’ (she even changed her number in order to not be reached), although she still only had four days notice. She referred to Lynch as an ‘Emperor’ and said she was treated like trash.”

About a year later, she cleared the air when she spoke with Scott Ryan for his essential book about Twin Peaks music.

“Everyone thought I was angry at the end of Part 17 because I didn’t get enough airtime,” said Cruise. “This is not it at all. Really. David does thing that will make me look good. He would not ever do anything to compromise his work. Hell, no. It was a glance at the past. It was beautifully done. I was hyper and nervous and didn’t know what to expect, and I did get quite a weird direction before I started. I have a photo of what I’m doing. It is quite different from what you see. That is not my face. I’m not sad during that song. I am not exuberant. The song is hope. The song is reality to me. I had it played at my mom’s funeral. This isn’t a sad song. This is life – afterlife. It is very Carl Jungian. It is a simple way for this complicated person to live.” (“Always,” page 273).

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT JULEE’S PERFORMANCE AT THE ROADHOUSE

Here is copy  Steve Appleford’s original article published in The Los Angeles Times on Sept. 4, 2017. Interestingly, a photo of Cruise from the pilot was used.

Meanwhile, The Spokesman Review also published Appleford’s article on Sept. 7 which included a publicity photo from Twin Peaks: The Return.

EPILOGUE – THE POWER OF ‘THE WORLD SPINS’

“The World Spins” is a fitting ending to Julee’s appearances in Twin Peaks. The song was a favorite for both David and Julee, a “lonely song from Lynch’s dark world.”

“That’s my favorite track and it’s David’s, too,” Julee admitted to Kent and Keith Zimmerman in The Gavin Report on May 11, 1990. “I did that alone with David in one day. Angelo was gone and we worked all day long on that one song. We took it phrase by phrase. I was in total darkness in the studio. I have a special feeling about that song. I can’t really tell you what I was thinking, but it’s a song that’s devastatingly stark, alone and almost peacefully numb. I don’t wont to tell you what I was thinking while I was singing. Every time I sing that song, I cry. I don’t mean to make it sound so corny, but there’s something very, very lonely about that song.”

Like the songs that came before on napkins and envelopes, “The World Spins” had an equally auspicious, informally spontaneous genesis.

“I wrote the lyrics to that in a restaurant,” said Lynch. “I was having lunch with my daughter and I wrote this certain kind of five line poem. So we decided to write this song in the restaurant. It was one of these places that had paper on the table instead of a table cloth. So we wrote it there. After we recorded it, we added that bass guitar. Then the saxophone parts, what’s that little sax? Yes, soprano sax. This guy, Al Regni – a great saxophone player – his saxophones were locked up at this theater he was playing at. He came over at about one or two in them morning. Then we added these bells.”

“‘The World Spins’ has the most powerful lyrics,” Cruise told Scott Ryan. “He always likes to bring in a little circus freak, which is sad. When I talk about creative stuff, sometimes people think I am a little scattered. You can rarely say lyrics out loud and they stand on their own. Those lyrics, [Lynch] nailed. He is a bonafide lyricist. They drive the song. Angelo [Badalamenti] just lets him do it by making it simple.” (“Always,” page 35)

Even more than three and a half decades later, the song remains timeless and perfect.