White Rabbit (song)
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| "White Rabbit" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Jefferson Airplane | ||
| from the album Surrealistic Pillow | ||
| B-side | "Plastic Fantastic Lover" | |
| Released | June 24, 1967 | |
| Format | Vinyl record (7") 45 RPM | |
| Recorded | November 3, 1966 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, acid rock | |
| Length | 2:31 5:20 (2003 Reissue Version) |
|
| Label | RCA Victor | |
| Writer(s) | Grace Slick | |
| Producer | Rick Jarrard | |
"White Rabbit" is a psychedelic rock/acid rock song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single and became the band's second top ten success, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked #478 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, #27 on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of All Time and appears on the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
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[edit] Lyrics and composition
One of Grace Slick's earliest songs, written during either late 1965 or early 1966, it includes comparisons of the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs such as Magic Mushrooms with the imagery found in the fantasy works of Lewis Carroll: 1865's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. Events in these books, such as changing size after eating mushrooms or drinking an unknown liquid, are referenced in the song. Characters referenced include Alice, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight, the Red Queen, and the Dormouse.
Slick has stated that White Rabbit was a response towards parents who asked why their children were taking drugs. According to her, books that parents would read to their children, such as "Alice in Wonderland," encouraged them to experiment with substances since surreal and colorful imagery was often used. She has also mentioned in interviews related to the song that "Alice in Wonderland" was often read to her as a child, and remained a vivid childhood memory into her adult years.
Set to a rising crescendo similar to that of Ravel's famous Boléro, and having a strong Spanish influence to it, the music combined with the song's lyrics strongly suggest the sensory distortions experienced with hallucinogens and the song was later utilized in pop culture to imply or accompany just such a state. "White Rabbit" is one of two songs, along with "Somebody to Love," that Slick brought with her to Jefferson Airplane from her earlier group The Great Society when she replaced original Airplane vocalist Signe Toly Anderson[citation needed].
[edit] Genesis
While the Red Queen and the White Knight are both mentioned in the song, the references are incorrect in detail. In Lewis Carroll's original text, the White Knight does not talk backward and it is the Queen of Hearts, not the Red Queen, who says "Off with her head!"
The 1951 Alice In Wonderland Disney movie often refers to the Queen of Hearts as the Red Queen because many of the Red Queen's characteristics are assigned to the Queen of Hearts character.
The last lines of the song are "Remember what the Dormouse said. Feed your head. Feed your head." and do not explicitly quote the Dormouse as is often assumed. Remembering what the Dormouse said probably refers to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Chapter XI 'Who Stole the Tarts' wherein a very nervous Mad Hatter is called to testify:
"'But what did the Dormouse say?' one of the jury asked."
"'That I can't remember,' said the Hatter.
"Feed your head" likely refers to the purported mind-expanding effects resulting from the ingestion of hallucinogenic substances.
[edit] Legacy and influence in popular culture
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009) |
- On the radio show Lex and Terry the song is played in the background while the bit Rx Lex is taking place
- In an episode of The Soup, Joel McHale makes a reference to the song regarding Al Roker's weight by saying "One pill makes you larger, and one staple makes you small..."
- The drug-themed novel Go Ask Alice takes its name from this song's lyrics. The book's protagonist is never named, but reviewers generally refer to her as "Alice" for the sake of convenience. The Columbia University health website Go Ask Alice!, however, does not take its name from the song.
- "On The Right Side Of My Mind," the 11th track on the 1999 Queensrÿche album, Q2K, contains the following reference to White Rabbit:
- " 'Re-engineer your head' is really what the door mouse said."
- The song has been used three times on The Simpsons in episodes; "D'oh-in In the Wind," Midnight Rx, and Mona Leaves-a.
- The song was also featured in an episode of The Outer Limits entitled "Vanishing Act."
- The song was used in an episode of Samantha Who? in which the amnesiac protagonist was in te clinical trial for memory-recovering pills.
- The song is featured at the end of the 1997 thriller The Game and in the scene where the film's main protagonist discovers his house has been vandalised.
- Richard Nixon's Head sings this song in the Futurama episode "A Head in the Polls," while making his futuristic presidential bid, telling his audience, "I'm meeting you halfway, you stupid hippies!"
- The song was mentioned in Hunter S. Thompson's book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in a scene in which Dr. Gonzo (the attorney) asks Raoul Duke to throw the tape deck into the bath with him during a bad acid trip:
- ""White Rabbit." I need rising sound … And when it comes to that fantastic note where the rabbit bites its own head off, I want you to throw that fuckin' radio into the tub with me!."
The scene is also featured in Terry Gilliam's 1998 film version of the book.
- ""White Rabbit." I need rising sound … And when it comes to that fantastic note where the rabbit bites its own head off, I want you to throw that fuckin' radio into the tub with me!."
- The song and part of its lyrics are mentioned in Stephen King's book Insomnia in the surreal scene at the beginning of chapter 3.
- The song was featured in Oliver Stone's Platoon; it is played in the background of the "Feel Good Cave" as the soldiers are getting high.
- Also in 2005 "White Rabbit" was featured in a delicate drug-related scene in Atom Egoyan's movie Where the Truth Lies.
- A "White Rabbit" cover portion has been a consistent part of Blue Man Group shows since their inception, and was released on their 2003 album "The Complex" featuring the vocal talent of Esthero
- The song was played during the "Down Neck" episode of HBO's The Sopranos. During a scene where Tony Soprano takes Prozac for his panic attacks. It is also played again at the end of the episode.
- In the movie Stoned from 2005 the song is played when Brian Jones takes LSD for the first time.
- The song is played during a drug-related skit on an episode of The Daily Show.
- The song was played in the background in the 3rd Rock from the Sun episode, "The Dicks They Are A-Changin'" when Dick comes to Dr. Albright's apartment to remember the sixties.
- The protagonist of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, Kaye, listens to this song whilst lying in her bedroom letting her pet rats roam on the shelves with her old dolls.
- The song was featured in "Hunted," an episode (season 2, episode 10) of The CW's Supernatural.
- The song is used as the base beat for the song "Rabbit Hole" by the Underground Hip-Hop artists Living Legends.
- The song both serves as an opening and is discussed in episode 2 of VH1's Drug Years series which tells of the 1960s counterculture.
- In 2006, excerpts from the song were used in a show entitled Volume 2: Through the Looking Glass performed by The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, which is filled with references to Alice in Wonderland.
- In Zero Skateboard's Dying to Live skate video, the song is skated to by Lindsey Robertson in his part.
- A cover of the song, performed by Collide, plays in the ending credits of the film Resident Evil: Extinction in regards to the main character whose name is Alice.
- The intro to the song is played in several episodes of Scrubs, although usually as filler music and not in reference to drugs.
- The opening lyrics of the song are sampled towards the end of the song "El Camino" by Ween on their album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness.
- An edited version of the song is featured in a commercial for Mistwalker's video game Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360
- The song can be heard briefly in the film Purple Haze
- An Instrumental version of The song is playing in the main title screen of EA's 2004 Game - BattleField: Vietnam
- The song is also featured in Shaun White Snowboarding
- The song is also heard in the video game Conflict: Vietnam
- Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Trevor Cahill uses the song while warming up before each of his starts. [1]
- Marvel supervillian White Rabbit sings part of the song in Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1.
[edit] Covers
The song was covered in the following years:
- 1971 – by the jazz guitarist George Benson
- 1980 – by the punk band The Last Words
- 1980 – by the punk / gothic rock band The Damned
- 1981 – by the post punk band The Mo-Dettes in a Peel Session
- 1985 – by the hardcore punk band Ruin... for their White Rabbit promotional cassette and later (1986) included in their Fiat Lux album[2]
- 1987 – by the heavy metal band Sanctuary
- 1987 – by the synth-pop band Act
- 1987 – by the Avant–garde jazz classical band Durutti Column
- 1989 – by the hardcore punk band Slapshot
- 1990 – by the house music duo David Diebold and Kim Cataluna[3]
- 1995 – by The Murmurs (MCA Records)
- 1995 – by Mephisto Walz
- 1996 – by the Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini
- 1996 – by the Norwegian heavy metal band In the Woods for their White Rabbit EP and later (2000) included in their Three Times Seven on a Pilgrimage album
- 1999 – by the Cincinnati-based Gothic/Garage Rock band Stop the Car for their final album Crash, after having featured the song regularly in their live set lists since the '80s
- 2001 – by the industrial band Collide.[4] A remix version appears in the ending credits of the 2007 film, Resident Evil: Extinction
- 2002 – by Enon for Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again VVA Benefit Compilation
- 2003 – by the performance art / experimental rock group Blue Man Group with vocals by Esthero[5]
- 2003 – by June Tabor and the Oysterband
- 2004 – remixed by the French DJ Mem Pamal, an hardtek mix with sample of the initial song.[6]
- 2005 – by Siobhan Fahey for The Best of Shakespears Sister album
- 2006 – remixed by the psychedelic trance act Fuzzion as Little Girl on the album Black Magic.[7]
- 2006 – by the Brechtian punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls at the Bonnaroo Music Festival
- 2006 – by The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps in their show Volume 2: Through the Looking Glass
- 2006 – by Lana Lane for Gemini album.[8]
- 2006 – by Girl Talk in the track "Minute by Minute" on his album "Night Ripper"
- 2007 – by Patti Smith on her cover album Twelve.
- 2007 – by The Vincent Black Shadow at the Warped Tour, later recorded in the studio for the 2008 EP "Head In A Box"
- 2007 – by Trinidad & Tobago rock band, Rango Tango.
- 2007 – by The Crüxshadows on Their Birthday EP.
- 2008 – by The Spectacles at the Bowery Ballroom
- 2008 – by Duckmandu of Fishtank Ensemble on his cover album Quack Rock: Five Duckades of Accordion Mega-Hits.
- 2008 – by Alternative band The Smashing Pumpkins as a tease in Heavy Metal Machine.
- 2009 – by russian rock-musician Naik Borzov in the soundtrack[9] for his audio-book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (russian translation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel) as "Black Rabbit" and "Funky Rabbit."
[edit] Sampled
- "Eye Examination" by Del tha Funkee Homosapien
- "Rabbit Hole" by Living Legends on the 2001 album Almost Famous
[edit] References
- ^ "Athletics Nation". http://www.athleticsnation.com/2009/6/27/928061/4-in-the-9th-7-unanswered-runs-at?ref=CBS&source=rss_teams_Oakland_Athletics. Retrieved on 2009-06-28.
- ^ White Rabbit - Ruin
- ^ David Diebold & Kim Cataluna - White Rabbit
- ^ Collide - Chasing The Ghost
- ^ Blue Man Group - The Complex
- ^ Various - Untitled
- ^ Fuzzion - Black Magic
- ^ Lana Lane - Gemini
- ^ Naik Borzov - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soundtrack
[edit] External links
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