Helen of Troy was known as "the face that launched a thousand ships." Grace Slick was known as "the voice that launched a thousand trips." ( and probably a lot more than a thousand)
Exactly, chasing the white rabbit is a term used in that scene for tripping, right? Also, Jefferson Airplane used the code words and story of Alice in Wonderland to fly under the censors' radar. The door mouse said feed your head. lol so obvious but they can just say "it's just about Alice in wonderland"
Yes, it's about drugs, but more specifically, it's about expanding ones mind and growing as a person (one pill makes you larger, feed your head), not so much about getting 'wasted'. Also, I feel that 'feed your head' isn't just referring to ingesting psychoactives, but also having a 'healthy media diet', as we call it these days!..
Jefferson Airplane begat Jefferson Starship... There is a cut on you tube of just the isolated vocal, it's spine tingling. The song refers to the book Alice in Wonderland.
And Jefferson Starship begat Starship. It is hard to believe the band that gave us "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" eventually became the band that gave us "Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now", all of them featuring the vocals of Grace Slick.
@@laziojohnny79 Excellent retort! Personally, I always just had fun doin' acid. For the record, I'm 70 years old and I've never murdered anyone. Not yet, anyway...LOL!
Yeah I hated it when he became Jefferson Starship Starship with built this city and others I know it was good but it just sounded they sold out to the corporate music.
Jefferson Airplane was straight out of Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco 1960's, the peak of the "Hippie" drug scene. Grace Slick was the Queen of the psychedelic rock and a great singer. She is still alive living in San Francisco and is an artist these days. Seen some of her paintings, she's quite good. Refuses to perform any more, says she doesn't want the be the old broad trying to sing on stage.
She uses a lot of vibrato; I think that's part of what you're talking about in her voice. Lewis Carroll included various drug references in his Alice in Wonderland book, and the Disney studio surprisingly emphasized these in its Sixties cartoon adaptation. Jefferson Airplane emphasized them even more.
1967! Yes, the song is about drugs. And yes, the lyrical imagery does come from Alice in Wonderland. "Feed your head" became "Turn on, tune in, drop out" as Timothy Leary -- the Johhny Appleseed of LSD -- phrased it before a crowd of 30,000 people gathered together to party in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that year of the Summer of Love. Since then this song has been used numerous times to evoke the psychedelic sixties, for example, in the 1986 Vietnam War movie Platoon. The 2013 crime drama American Hustle -- starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper -- featured a great Turkish language cover of "White Rabbit" by Mayssa Karaa that puts a whole different spin on the song.
Two Jefferson Airplane/Starship songs you really, really need to hear: Airplane’s ‘Somebody to Love’ and - especially - ‘Miracles’ by Jefferson Starship. I’ll give you a no-questions-asked money-back guarantee on Miracles.
Definitely listen to “Miracles” for another really unique voice, Marty Balin. He had a single “Hearts”, that I would also highly recommend--link below. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3nKNQsJtum8.html
Saw them twice during that era, along with a few dozen other bands, and, yes, she sounded that powerful on stage. It was fun being a teenager in the’60’s in Southern California. Sure, we had problems, every era does, and our music carried us.
Baby girl she is talking about both the joke is the author of Alice in wonderland may have eaten mushrooms. Think out the box girl shamans since ancient times ingested mushrooms and weed .But in those days their was little documentation and data on usage .
Shrooms can allow you to be in two places at once, even see yourself in both places, and to know what any group of people are talking about before you even join them.
Psilocybin is not Lysergic acid diethylamide. Try taking seven grams of LSD and see where that gets you. 400 μgrams would usually do the trick. (Note: these are NOT considered safe dosages.)
Yaàas! If you like this , try their "Don't you want somebody to love" the live video of this at Woodstock is awesome. This song is a twist on Alice in Wonderland. Jefferson Airplane changed their band name to Starship in the 80's
Actually they changed their name to Jefferson Starship first in 1974. The name Starship came about because of a law suit. That group(Starship) had none of the original members of Jefferson Starship or Jefferson Airplane. That is why they had to drop Jefferson from the name.
@@jessegreen6138 Huh??? Grace Slick sang co-lead on the song, "We Built This City" which was Starship. SHE absolutely was an original member of all three groups. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_(band)
@@Motown-1966 Go read about why they had to drop Jefferson from their name. Grace never sang with Starship again she got into an brew ha, ha with Thomas over this song. In 1978 Grace Slick was asked to resign after their July, 1978 show in Hamburg, West Germany because of her drunken antics on stage. In October Marty Balin left the group. That left them without a singer. They had to get a singer in came Mickey Thomas. When Paul Kantner left he sued them over the use of the name Jefferson Starship which is why the group had to change their name to Starship. Grace had been in and out of the group twice before this. She was with Starship for "We built this City". The name of the group had changed by then. to Starship. I hope this clears up the confusion. Just look up Jefferson Starship on Wikipedia it can spell it out a bit better.
Grace Slick has a VERY strong vibrato to her voice. Yeah, it was a about Alice in Wonderland AND comparing it to drugs. Actually the book has LONG been discussed on this subject. Check out the songs, "Today" and "Somebody to Love" off of the same album.
The book of Alice in Wonderland wasn't about drugs, however this song definitely is. In the 60s people interpreted the book's weirdness as being an LSD trip, and the idea was reinforced by Disney's adaptation.
Grace's voice had a great power. Interesting that everyone seems to start with this one - maybe because Pink covered it a while back. Some other great JA choices are 'Volunteers,' 'Wooden Ships,' 'Somebody to Love.' Also the giant with the guitar, Jorma Kaukonen and the bassist Jack Cassidy, spun off a band called "Hot Tuna" that you should check out - 'Surphase Tension,' 'Keep On Truckin',' 'Hesitation Blues' etc.
Jorma Kaukonen is the guitarist and founding member of Jefferson Airplane. His name tells he is partly of Finnish descent. The population of Finland is only 5,5M so we like to keep track of people of Finnish descent living outside Finland.
In the beginning it was Jefferson Airplane, then Jefferson Starship which was first used on the album "Blows Against the Empire", then after leaving Jefferson Starship because it got too commercial, one of the founders (Paul Kantner) sued the band and they became just Starship. Starship was even worse despite the return of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner. Grace eventually went on to do two albums with Paul ("Baron von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun" and "Sunfighter")and others. She also did 4 solo albums ("Manhole", "Welcome to the Wrecking Ball", "Dreams", and "Software".) My favorite Grace Slick heavy songs are : "Rejoyce", "Two Heads", "Eskimo Blue Day", "Lather", "Silver Spoon", "Better Lying Down", "Theme from Manhole", "Easter?", and "Welcome to the Wrecking Ball".
Alice in wonderland was social commentary,it's obvious when the queen says words mean what I say they mean,that's done now,I was in a shelter,and yes that's done
Jefferson Airplane morphed into Jefferson Starship and then just Starship. I saw them LAST YEAR at a free concert on the beach at Santa Cruz. The new female singer really sounds like Grace Slick, and Mickey Thomas still sounds amazing.
It's refreshing to see such a open mind and heart reacting to these great songs of the past, you get it right away (even the more complicated compositions) and provide intelligent and funny comments. Thank you Jayy!! i would love to hear you do a Joni Mitchell reaction video (A Case of You, Coyote, Amelia any one of these is great).
I have heard Grace wrote this song for the band she was in before Airplane but they didn't like it. Surrealistic Pillow is a great album. This song Alice in Wonderland yes
Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship, who then became Starship. JA were one of the biggest bands of hippie era San Francisco. This song was about hypocrisy of adults saying drugs were bad yet reading children stories full of subtle drug references like Alice in Wonderland. It's in a style called a bolero - it doesn't have verses or choruses, it just slowly builds and builds and builds. Some other top JA songs are "Somebody to love", "We can be together", "Volunteers", and "Coming back to me".
It was Jefferson Airplane in the 60s when this came out, they changed the name to Jefferson Starship after the band split into 2 different bands in 1972. This song is based on Alice in Wonderland used as drug references.
White Rabbit, as sung by Grace Slick (1967), is the epitome of the 1960s as its meanings encapsulate and reflect several cultural and social facets of the 1960s generation of teens and 20-somethings.
Jorma the guitarist here in early Jefferson Airplane IS THE MAN. Check out some solo Jorma Kaukonen....genesis, water song, etc., as well as Hot Tuna. Great, great music. Jorma shreds!
Grace Slick - what a voice! Try listening to some Shocking Blue. 'Venus' is the obvious 1st choice (nothing wrong with it, it's a classic!), but other recommendations are 'Hot Sand' or 'Mighty Joe'.
You really should have watched the Woodstock live version of this song. It is so wonderful. :) . And personally to me Grace Slick is beautiful and hot.
60’s psychedelic music. Jefferson Airplane was part of the Haight-Ashbury crowd. The birth of the 1960’s hippie movement. But you know who has almost the same voice as Grace Slick? Florence Welch from “Florence and the Machine”. Check out their “Dog Days of Summer”.
The most applicable line is the last one. Remember what the Dor Mouse Said. Feed Your Head. At the time many folks thought feed your head meant using LSD or some other psychedelic. It really means feed your head with knowledge. 👍
You're right on both counts: It is about drugs (namely, shrooms; and it is about "Alice in Wonderland" (which is rumored to have been written by author Lewis Carroll about a psychedelic trip - though there's no proof of that).
You are correct about the lyrics, it is based on the poem "Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carrol who was a heroin addict at the time. The lead singer Grace Slick used Acid(LSD) and a lot of weed
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, "WHITE RABBIT" YOU ARE CORRECT ON BOTH FRONTS. ALICE AND WONDERLAND. AND THE 60'S PSCHODELIC ROCK AND THE DRUG SCENE... HAPPY NEW YEAR... SO HAPPY AS THIS PAST ONE SUCKED...
the exit line "Feed your head"...was an instigation for doing LSD/Acid to enlighten and discover yourself. And at that time till the late 80ties you had to put lyricwise a drug topic in a song in form of double meaning allegories otherwise the song wouldn´t had been released, and therefore the topic Alice in Wonderland is simply made for that, which is evident for everybody having LSD experience. the Beatles did it as well by singing "Strawberry fields forever"..refering to a popular type of acid called "Strawberry" And certain types of music/sounds are harmonizing to certain types of drugs..so alone the sound of those songs is already refering to certain drugs as well, where additional distinct lyrics aren´t necessary to get what the song is refering to.. And Psychodelic music which "White Rabbit" is was LSD music.
Hippies kind of adopted Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor for inner knowledge through drugs, but the original story wasn't about it, it's all full of symbolism and applying mathematics to writing... Anyway, it's a great song, maybe too attached to its time, but phenomenal nevertheless
😂 Wait so did Alice not take a pill to make her big and another to make smaller? Didn't the caterpillar & the Cheshire Cat smoke some pot? They were certainly getting down in the book LONG before hippies got to it and connected the dots/metaphors.
@@Motown-1966 A pill that makes people change size is a drug? the Cheshire Cat smoked pot? some characters smoked in the book, but pot? tobacco is a drug, anyway, but not a psychedelic drug. Marijuana and Hashish are drugs, but not psychedelic ones, except some Marijuana varieties that in anyway, you have to smoke a big dose of it to get that psych effects... Psychedelia didn't exist in Lewis Carroll time, and he certainly didn't have the intention of making a book about something it didn't exist, so stop the anachronysm
@@JulioLeonFandinho 😂No need to get angry at me when ppl of the 1860's indeed were talking various drugs like hashish, smoking opium, eating mushrooms, & taking cocaine. The latter actually being prescribed.
I read where Grace Slick was recently asked what they meant by "Feed Your Head." Her response? "Read a book." Anybody else out there doubting that too?
I remember this group well. I was a flower child then. I was against the status quo and, the hipocracy of the burguose society. This song is about getting high baby.👍👌👌❤❤❤❤❤❤
Yes, it is about Alice in Wondeland AND drugs! This was the sixties - drugs were everywhere ... definitely on that stage! It was a "hippie trippy" song - very popular!!!
I heard an interview with Singer -Grace Slick ( hope that's the correct spelling ) where she says the song is about the fact that parents read their children stories like Alice IWL. Where Alice takes pills ,the caterpillar smokes a Hooker and there's also mushrooms involved .Then those same parents get annoyed when their children decide to experiment with those same kind of drugs. Those Psychedelic songs from the late 60 where almost all about drugs LOL
You are pretty close in your analysis, though the drug references through Alice in Wonderland imagery was fully intentional. Grace Slick has said that the theme behind the lyrics is following your own curiosity. Slick first performed this song (along with "Someone to Love") with her previous band "The Great Society". Their earlier live, and even more psychedelic version (the vocals don't even begin until 4-1/2 minutes in), can be easily found on RU-vid.
Acid Rock - Its all about Alice in the Wonderland. Grace Slick is sing about Alice tripping Wonderland. Timeless classic. Never tire of hearing it. Grace is still going strong. The song, the band and the singer define an era.
Alice and Wonderland is about drugs and Jefferson Airplane was a part of the 60s Psychedelic Scene of San Francisco ..So it all fits together...SOMEBODY TO LOVE is another hit they had
The song is about mind expansion through the use of psychedelic drugs, using Alice in Wonderland as a reference point. The last line says it all, feed your head, which was commonly said regarding drug use in the 60's and 70's.
Also Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship they are the same group.I guess it was an update to the name for they were around from the 60's to the 80's .
They did this song at Woodstock, and yes there were puh-LENTY of drugs among the half-million bodies at that 3-day concert. If you get the chance, check out Santana's "Soul Sacrifice" live at Woodstock to get a taste of those wild times (1969).
If I could pick you up -like the ghost of Christmas (or perhaps concerts past), and take you back for a tour of those days-you would see your grandparent's generation in a whole new light! -we were alive and wild once. but in Hank Williams song "Shadow Face" he tells of people telling him that he and his friends would burn out if they didn't slow down he answers "Who ever told you what you could and could not do?....but some of my friends are gone ," As are some of mine, everything carries it's price.
Lewis Carrol, the author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" filled the books, (based on stories he used to tell to children), with a plethora of thinly-veiled drug references. Mind-expanding drugs were also widely available during the psychedelic '60s and bands as well as their fans were very experimental. Thematically this song was ripe for the time.
In case u didn't figure this out this song came out during the psychedelic/hippy era in the late 60's and is referring to drug use. It just used alice in wonderland to talk about drugs. BTW the band changed their name twice. It went from jefferson airplane during this hippy era to jefferson starship in the 70's and part of the 80's when they got a little more modern and slightly heavier sounding and then to starship in the late 80's when they became more of a poppish top 40 band. Please please listen to keep on dreaming which came out in 1982. A very different style and more in line of late 70's and early 80's rock. Heavier, more upbeat, and more electric and guitar oriented. I love the message on keep on dreaming as well. BTW later they added a male lead vocalist to compliment grace. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6l7n8CMPQto.html
It's about both Alice In Wonderland and psychedelic drugs. Aren't the 2 things interchangeable? They're both about leaving reality behind and entering a strange new world for a little while.
