White Rabbit (song)

"White Rabbit" is a 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[1]  on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked #478 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[2]  #87 on Rate Your Music's Top Singles of All Time,[3]  and appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll

The name White Rabbit has also been described as a nickname for counterculture era figure Owsley Stanley.[4]



Contents
[hide]  *1 History  ==History[ edit] == “White Rabbit” was written by Grace Slick while she was still with The Great Society. When that band broke up in 1966, Slick was invited to join Jefferson Airplane to replace their departed female singer Signe Toly Anderson, who left the band with the birth of her child. The first album Slick recorded with Jefferson Airplane was Surrealistic Pillow, and Slick provided two songs from her previous group: her own “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love”, written by her brother-in-law Darby Slick and recorded under the title "Someone to Love" by The Great Society. Both songs became breakout successes for Jefferson Airplane and have ever since been associated with that band.[5] ==Lyrics and composition[ edit] == 1967 trade ad for the single.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">One of Grace Slick's earliest songs, written during either late 1965 or early 1966, uses imagery found in the fantasy works of Lewis Carroll: 1865's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass, such as changing size after taking pills or drinking an unknown liquid. It is commonly thought that these are also references to the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin mushrooms. The line about the pills that have no effect may reference to sugar pills, which do nothing at all. Characters referenced include Alice, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight, the Red Queen, and the Dormouse.
 * 2 Lyrics and composition
 * 3 Chart run
 * 4 Covers
 * 5 Sampled
 * 6 In media
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">For Slick and others in the 1960s, drugs were a part of mind-expanding and social experimentation. With its enigmatic lyrics, "White Rabbit" became one of the first songs to sneak drug references past censors on the radio. Even Marty Balin, Slick's eventual rival in Jefferson Airplane, regarded the song as a "masterpiece". In interviews, Slick has related that Alice in Wonderland was often read to her as a child and remained a vivid memory into her adult years.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In an interview with The Wall Street Journal Slick mentioned that in addition to Alice in Wonderland her other inspiration for the song was "the bolero used by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on their 1960 album Sketches of Spain."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[6]  The song is essentially one long crescendo similar to that of Ravel's famous Boléro. The music combined with the song's lyrics strongly suggests the sensory distortions experienced with hallucinogens, and the song was later used in pop culture to imply or accompany just such a state, such as being the inspiration for the best-selling novel, Go Ask Alice. ==Chart run<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Cashbox<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  (11 weeks): 59, 45, 23, 14, 12, 11, 8, 6, 7, 22, 41 ==Covers<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The song was covered in the following years:

==Sampled<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==In media<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"White Rabbit" has been used in numerous films and television shows.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]
 * 1967 – by the jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó and The California Dreamers
 * 1967 – by the Quebec girl band Les Intrigantes (French cover La Justice)
 * 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 punk band The Zarkons (Formerly known as The Alley Cats)
 * 1985 – by the punk band Ruin
 * 1987 – by the heavy metal band Sanctuary
 * 1987 – by the heavy metal band Lizzy Borden
 * 1987 – by the synth-pop band Act
 * 1987 – by the Avant–garde jazz classical band Durutti Column
 * 1989 – by the hardcore punk band Slapshot
 * 1989 – by the comedy rock band The Frogs
 * 1990 – by the house music duo David Diebold and Kim Cataluna<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]
 * 1995 – by The Murmurs (MCA Records)
 * 1995 – by Mephisto Walz
 * 1996 – by the Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini, later used in the soundtrack for 2011 film Sucker Punch
 * 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
 * 1996 – by the American Black Metal band Wind of the Black Mountains (albeit slightly altered and renamed 'Black Goat') on their Sing Thou Unholy Servants album
 * 1997 – by Born for Bliss
 * 1998 – by June Tabor on album On Air
 * 1998 – by Ed & Denyze Alleyne-Johnson
 * 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 1980s
 * 2001 – by the industrial band Collide.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  A remix version appears in the ending credits of the 2007 film, Resident Evil: Extinction
 * 2002 – by Sleater-Kinney at the Majestic Theater in Detroit, Michigan
 * 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<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]
 * 2003 – by June Tabor and the Oysterband
 * 2004 – by My Morning Jacket
 * 2005 – by Shakespears Sister for The Best of Shakespears Sister, and later Songs from the Red Room
 * 2006 – remixed by the psychedelic trance act Fuzzion as Little Girl on the album Black Magic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]
 * 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]
 * 2007 – by Stan Ridgway as an encore song during his summer tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Wall of Voodoo's album Call of the West.
 * 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 Alternative band The Smashing Pumpkins as a tease in Heavy Metal Machine.
 * 2009 – by Russian rock-musician Nike Borzov in the soundtrack<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  for his audio-book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (Russian translation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel) as "Black Rabbit" and "Funky Rabbit".
 * 2009 – by Industrial/Rock band CYBERTRYBE as a revamped remake on their EP "Fight". CYBERTRYBE also produced a remix of the remake, "White Rabbit - Viagra Mix" in 2012, winning Outstanding Electronica/Dance Recording at the Detroit Music Awards.
 * 2010 – by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals on the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack "Almost Alice".
 * 2010—by The Indecent on their debut album Her Screwed Up Head.
 * 2011 – by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, performing live on the NPR show "Fresh Air"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]
 * 2011 – by Australian group Floating Me, as a part of their live sets (fans voted on the band's Facebook page for a song for them to cover).
 * 2011 – by Emilíana Torrini on the soundtrack Sucker Punch<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]
 * 2012 – by Ladyhawke for Triple J's Like a Version segment. Later included on the compilation album.
 * 2013 – by British alternative band The Danse Society for their "Scarey Tales" album
 * 2013 – by Mayssa Karaa, in Arabic. Recorded for the soundtrack of American Hustle (2013 film)
 * 2014 – by house music duo Kalm Kaoz featuring Trinity. This was used as the theme song for the Mysteryland USA festival in 2014 and was released with remixes from British electro house group Let's Be Friends and Australian musician M4SONIC.
 * "Collie Trippz" by DJ Marky and S.P.Y
 * "Do Whatcha Gotta" by Nice & Smooth<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]
 * "Homework" by The Dust Brothers
 * "Eye Examination" by Del tha Funkee Homosapien
 * "Needful Things" by Psycho Realm
 * "Minute By Minute" by Girl Talk
 * "Rabbit Hole" by Living Legends on the 2001 album, Almost Famous
 * "Overload" by Sugababes


 * A line in the song, Go Ask Alice, was used as the title of a 1971 book about drug addiction by Beatrice Sparks that was adapted two years later into an ABC Movie of the Week.
 * The song is played twice during season 1, episode 7 of The Sopranos, "Down Neck": first while Tony Soprano takes his Prozac and remembers his childhood, and again over the end credits.
 * The Battlefield: Vietnam main menu song consists of the bass line of White Rabbit, with voice tracks of Lyndon B. Johnson and Hanoi Hannah.
 * The song is featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 video game Shaun White Snowboarding.
 * The song is played throughout a trailer for the video game Lost Odyssey.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]
 * Played during season 5, episode 1 of American Dad! ("In Country...Club").
 * The song is used twice in the movie The Game (1997), once when Nicholas Van Orten (Michael Douglas) comes home to find his home vandalized with graffiti, and after the movie when the end credits are rolling.
 * In the 1998 film, and in the book that the film is based on, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the climax of the song is played when Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro) is sitting in a water-filled bathtub and attempts to bring the tape player that's playing the song in with him, as he wants to "hear" the song better.
 * The song is used in season 10, episode 6 of The Simpsons ("D'oh-in in the Wind") during a montage of Springfielders drinking hallucinogenic vegetable juice produced by Homer.
 * The song is used in season 16, episode 6 of The Simpsons ("Midnight Rx") when Abe and Homer are in Canada to smuggle prescription drugs into the United States.
 * The song is used in the 1986 Academy Award-winning film Platoon during a scene when a group of soldiers bond while taking hallucinogenic drugs.
 * In season 2, episode 7 of Futurama ("A Head in the Polls"), Richard Nixon's head sings the last line of the song while strumming a guitar and promptly declares, "I'm meeting you halfway, you stupidhippies."
 * The song is heard in the background of an episode in Everybody Hates Chris.
 * The song is heard in the Brian Jones biopic Stoned (2005) when Jones ingests LSD for the first time.
 * In the series Supernatural, the song is played in an episode called "Hunted".
 * The song is used in the first season of Warehouse 13 in the episode, "Duped" as Alice returns to destroy a mirror.
 * The song is in the 1998 film "Hideous Kinky" based on the autobiographical novel by Esther Freud from 1992.
 * It is hypothesized that the song was used as inspiration for the Wonderland characters in the ABC series Once Upon a Time. Jefferson is the name of the Mad Hatter and his daughter is named Grace.
 * This song is used in the reality show The Osbournes in the season 4 episode 1, "Kelly Interrupted" where she is taken to rehab.
 * The song is used in the video game Conflict: Vietnam.
 * This song is used in the Daria episode "Road Worriers" when Helen and Jake get frisky with each other when they're home by themselves while the girls are going to Alternapalooza.
 * The song is heard briefly in the Blossom season two episode "The Joint".
 * The song is used in the TV series Love/Hate, series 4, episode 2