More than a Song About Drugs
Lyrics
One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call
And call Alice, when she was just small
When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice, I think she'll know
When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead
And the white knight is talking backwards
And the red queen's off with her head
Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head, feed your head
The Beginging
In 1965 Grace Slick wrote the very influential protest song, “White Rabbit”. A year later Slick’s band, Great Society, played the song in a small bar. It was not until 1967 when Slick left Great Society and joined the band Jefferson Airplane did the song become what many would say was one of the most influential pieces of music of the protest era of the 60’s. At the time of the publication of White Rabbit, great change and rebellion was happening all over the country and the world. The Vietnam War was very controversial at the time and many young people such a as Slick believed that the war was wrong. Young people all over the country were protesting and rebelling against the social norms of the American society. Drugs became a huge part of this rebellion and Slick fully embraced them. Slick uses Lewis Carol’s book, Alice in Wonderland and the positive view of drugs to make a stance against the war and to tell others to stand up. With the use of specific musical elements to capture the listeners and engage them in the point she was trying to make. “White Rabbit” was not only a source of rebellion for Slick, it provided inspiration to listeners to be their authentic self and to fight for what they believe.
Rebellion |
Slick came from a middle class family in Chicago. Her Dad was an investment banker and her mother was a stay at home mom. She grew up reading fairytales like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. Like many teenagers do, Slick rebelled against her parents and the rules of society. She says that she “went from the planned, bland 50's to the world of being in a rock band without looking back”(Myers). Instead of going to college, she joined a band and started smoking weed, in a form of rebellion against her parents. This was common during this time young people at the time were desperate for change and rebellion. Slick also associated some of her struggles as the same struggles Alice struggled with in Alice in Wonderland. In the song she says “Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall”. In the book Alice in Wonderland, Alice takes a pill that makes her grow very tall and she does not fit in the world that she is in and she causes many disruptions. Slick relates to Alice in that way of feeling like you do not fit in and having to figure out problems life brings by yourself. At this time, many young people left home and moved to the big cities to live a simpler life, a lot of the time influenced by drugs. They were alone, without their parents, outcasts and society, and many of them could relate to Alice in the song.
Drugs
Like many other artists of the time, after leaving home, Slick embraced experimenting with drugs such as Marijuana, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms and DMT, which were popular. She saw Psychedelic drugs as a gateway to being more openminded to the world around them and as an alternative viewpoint as to how things have been done in the past. She even talks about who she was on acid when she wrote the acoustic part of White Rabbit. Drugs enhanced her creativity and allowed her to create a piece of art that was unique and different. Slick uses the story of Alice and Wonderland to illustrate the points she is trying to make in her song White Rabbit.
During the 1960’s people started to highlight the underlying theme of drugs in many of the fairytales they grew up listening too. Most everybody at the time was aware of the presence of drugs in Alice in Wonderland. Like Carol, Slick was aware of the power of drugs in language and she used drug slang in her song as a way to get young peoples’ of that time, attention. To young people, drugs were a way to think differently. At the time many were sick of the government telling them what to do, Slick says “Remember what the dormouse said; Feed your head, Feed your head”(Slick). She is pointing out the importance of educating yourself and not relying on the government to educate you on what is going on in the world. Many saw drugs as a great way to educate themselves. That drugs bring a whole new outlook on the world and at the time many people felt that was needed.
anti-war
The draft was a real thing at the time and many feared getting sent away or having a love one be sent away to war. In the song she describes the government as a“hookah-smoking caterpillar” (Slick) that “has given you the call”(Slick), the call being the draft to go to war. The feeling that the government had complete control over the lives of the people, was a very real feeling at the time. Young people did not like the feeling of being constricted and not being able to do what they like. Not only did the draft take away their freedom, it sent them off to a war that a large number of them opposed. The Vietnam war was very controversial and many like Slick felt that the reasons for being there were wrong. This is evident in the song when she says,“When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead”(Slick). She is drawing on the fact that many people have died for a non-logical reason.
Don't conform
Not only is “White Rabbit” an opposition song, it is also a song that calls on the audience to stand up and protest. Slick calls upon the importance of people to stand up against the Vietnam War. This is evident in the song when she says, “One pill makes you larger”(Slick) meaning you become a larger person when you stand up against the government; “one pill makes you small”(Slick), meaning you become indispensable and small if you go with the flow and let the government take you to war; “And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all”(Slick) meaning if you listen to your parents nothing will change or get better. “White rabbit” spread all over the country. Many saw it as a spiritual anthem to what they believed and felt. Different artists covered the song and even today it is still popular. In 2016, Pink covered “White Rabbit” and Slick praised her for her performance.
Style
Slick not only uses her powerful word choice to influence the listeners, she also uses unique musical elements to draw on the common emotions people were feeling during this time. Slick says that the “music I came up with was based on a slow Spanish march”(Myers) in order to build the momentum of the song, ending with a big punch. She used minor cords because she thought that they sounded sad and that they added a nice element to her song. She wanted the acoustics to not be too empowering,more of a support for her lyrics. Acid, a popular drug during the 60’s, was a useful tool, she claims, for her to compose the music. Her lyrics were what really made her song popular. They were powerful and strong. The lyrics brought attention to issues all young people at the time were experiencing and having to deal with.
Lasting impact
The song “White Rabbit” not only made a large impact on the era of the 1960’s, it still impacts our world today. Many people today still enjoy listening to the song and find it as s source of inspiration to lift them up and inspire them to act on their beliefs. Slick’s use of the story Alice in Wonderland and the strong advocation for drug use contribute to the songs popularity today. Drugs are still a taboo in our society today and young adults still are looking for ways to rebel. “White Rabbit” expresses those hidden desires that all young people have. The song also provides a great energy source for protests today. Even though people in the 60’s were protesting for way different things then people in society are protesting for today, the energy is still inspiring to listeners today. Grace Slick’s legacy of rebellion will always live on, even after her death through “White Rabbit”.