Daisy Jones & The Six

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Author’s Note-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Chapters 11-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary: “Debut (1973–1975)”

After months of working hard on their first album, The Six set off on their first tour. Teddy and Billy become closer as they work on mixing and perfecting the album together. Billy is struck by Teddy’s insight, and Teddy is inspired by the music, calling it “ineffable. If I could define it, I wouldn’t have any use for it” (55). The night they’re set to leave, Camila reveals that she is pregnant, and she and Billy get married that same night. Billy is torn about his feelings about becoming a father due to his past with his own father. The idea of fatherhood shakes Billy up. Graham says, “This word that we equated with deadbeat, asshole, alcoholic. Now it described Billy, too. He was supposed to find a way to make that word fit onto him” (62).

Billy is so shaken by his impending fatherhood that he throws himself into the rock star life, with more alcohol, more drugs, and more women. Billy, at first surprised by his own indiscretions, comes to realize that “you possess the very dangerous information that you can break the rule and the world won’t instantly come to an end” (66). Billy is caught in the act of cheating by Camila, and Camila gives Billy the deadline of their daughter’s birth to clean up his act, determined to make sure their family will ultimately stay together. Billy sinks even deeper into drug use and discovers the drug that all his friends and managers fear the most: heroin.

When Camila gives birth to Julia, Teddy forces Billy out of the tour and to the hospital, but Billy can’t get himself to go inside and meet his new daughter. Billy enters rehab in 1974, and The Six cancel the rest of their tour dates. The band goes on a break while Billy spends 60 days in rehab, where he reflects on and rethinks his drug use. He commits to being sober, and to “Imagining myself as a man my daughter would feel lucky to have” (75). Billy confronts his fear that he will be a bad father and finally meets Julia.

Chapter 5 Summary: “First (1974–1975)”

Daisy is still refusing to attend recording sessions for her album, putting her in breach of contract. Simone has a career revival and is touring R&B clubs throughout Europe. Without Simone’s rational attitude, Daisy digs her heels deeper into her fight with Runner Records. Teddy Price intervenes, and under his guidance Daisy realizes the importance of playing by some rules to earn the respect that will allow her music to be produced later—a lesson she needed to learn because “I was so used to being given things that I didn’t know how important it is for your soul to earn them” (81). Daisy releases her first album, and although the album isn’t incredibly original, Daisy establishes herself as a musical force to watch.

Chapter 6 Summary: “Seven Eight Nine (1975–1976)”

Ready to start recording again, The Six begin the album SevenEightNine, but the record producers are unsure there’s a hit song. The tone is different from the expected rock ’n’ roll album as Billy is writing songs about family in his commitment to sobriety. To spice up the album, Teddy suggests using Daisy Jones for a duet due to her talent and notoriety. When Daisy shows up, not only is everyone taken aback by her beauty, but she also upsets Billy by putting her own spin on the song. The song, “Honeycomb,” is about Billy’s solid marriage, but Daisy sings the statements as questions that express doubt. Frustrated, Billy ends the recording session. He doesn’t realize it, but everyone else does: Daisy’s interpretation of the song unveils the truth behind Billy’s relationship, a truth he is trying to hide from. The truth, says Karen, is that “Billy was writing songs trying to tell himself he had got it all under control, that decades out he’ll still have his sobriety and his wife and his family” (91).

Billy doesn’t like Daisy at first; she is used to getting what she wants, and so is he. Eddie describes Billy’s attitude as “in such denial of what a bulldozer he was to the rest of us” (93). The band is worried that the duet is a pop song more than a rock song, but they accept Daisy. Billy avoids Daisy whenever he can, frustrated by her talent and attitude. Karen appreciates Daisy’s presence around the band. While Karen has spent much of her life in music playing the man’s game, Daisy acts as if she simply doesn’t care. The band is focused on achieving success, but Daisy seems to be in the studio for the sake of the art itself, eager to, in her own words, “make something interesting and original and cool” (94).

The duet is released, and its success makes The Six more mainstream, and therefore more commercially successful. The album SevenEightNine is thematically more romantic but still has a rock ’n’ roll sound. “Honeycomb” is the real hit of the album, a fact that makes it impossible for the band to ignore Daisy Jones and her influence.

Chapters 4-6 Analysis

In Chapter 4, Billy experiences a type of catharsis brought on by his severe drug use and his entrance into rehab. Billy is forced to choose between two juxtaposed worlds: On the one hand, there is the drug-infused rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, and on the other, there is the tranquil and idyllic family life. The effect of Billy’s decision on the tone of the music interferes with the musical identities of the other band members. Chapter 4 highlights how much The Six is under the control of Billy’s opinions, life, and whims.

In Chapter 4, Billy’s wife, Camila, presents a foil to Billy’s character. While Billy is impulsive and embraces chaos, Camila has a clear and calm vision for her future. Billy decides he must work hard to become a man more worthy of such clarity, but he must work hard to repress some of his characteristics.

In Chapter 5, the reader is re-introduced to Teddy Price through Daisy’s experience. In the same way that Teddy quells Billy’s anxieties about his music, so, too, does he soothe Daisy’s fears that her first album will not represent her true self. This chapter depicts Teddy as a savior character playing a fatherly role for both Billy and Daisy, and his presence establishes another parallel between Daisy and Billy. Both Billy and Daisy need a character like Teddy in their lives—someone who is nurturing and supportive but will also challenge them to be better.

Chapters 4 and 5 reveal major character development in Billy and Daisy. Both confront their flaws, Billy his drug addiction and Daisy her ego. In another parallel between Daisy and Billy, both characters actively decide to address this flaw to become a better artist. They are both at the beginning with their new selves, insecure in their new roles.

In Chapter 6, Billy and Daisy meet and work together, a situation that brings two similar artists with large egos and immense talent into the same studio. The parallelism between the two characters drives the conflict between them, as Billy senses in Daisy’s ability to see through his music a threat to his well-being. Although Billy is not conscious of it, the rest of the band is aware of the affect Daisy has on Billy, a dynamic that creates an underlying dramatic irony.

When Daisy’s confidence and re-interpretation of his song trigger Billy, the rest of the band reflects on Billy’s bossiness and inability to work as a team player. This criticism of Billy’s leadership foreshadows potential conflicts of working as a band of six people. Teddy is the character all other characters can rely on, and so he steadies the narrative and ensures the story continues.