"White Rabbit" By Jefferson Airplane
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
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
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
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
Now then, first things first, the dormouse did not say that. He just guards the door and tries to tell me all sorts of lies to get out. If he tells me anything it is to clear my head and to try to think about what is bothering me. So I am going to do just that, I am going to look at this song and work out exactly why it is bothering me so much, apart from the obvious of course. After all I am supposed to remember what the dormouse said after all.
First thing I am supposed to do is work out how it makes me feel. Before they decided to drug me I felt angry, as well as betrayed. The thing is that now as I remember it in my current state it seems to be familiar and slightly comforting. The disorientation that the contrasting images and strange actions seem to be supposed to cause do not affect me at all, but they do remind me of a time when these delusions as the doctor calls them were more gentle and did not hurt as much. That could just be the drugs talking though, some days I can not tell the difference between my thoughts and those provided by the pills.
If I am to think about how the lines are arranged I notice that they rhyme in a strange way. The second, fourth, and fifth line of each stanza rhyme, but the rest does not. It is not a common way for normal people to set up poetry at all, perhaps that also adds to the fact that it makes me feel comfortable. The fact that the line where one is told to ask Alice is treated as if it is only part of a line and the line after it seems to be treated as the one with a terminative word instead. It is quite strange indeed, not compared to what is down the rabbit hole, but still strange. Perhaps it is to confuse the listeners to make them feel disoriented so that the message of the song can be heard, or perhaps it is just an attempt to convey a slightly twisted nature to make the song impact more of its listeners. The second theory seems more in line with the vocal choices of the singer.
The song is also interesting in the fact that it seems to be addressed to those who are under the influence of many kinds of drugs, probably hallucinogens like those preferred by the March Hare before she supposedly fried her brain. Is this comparing the world that I see, the so called wonderland that Mr Carroll named to a hallucination caused by poor decisions? It seems as if they are unable to separate reality from fiction and so confuse the two. The idea that smoking, taking pills, or eating mushrooms would allow one into wonderland is absurd, but for some reason they seem to think I would be the guide in this situation. The images of Chessmen telling one where to go is similar to how it is in this place, as is the feeling that the pills can give you, but it seems as if they are speaking of something more pleasurable than being made to sleep. The final stanza sounds as if it is a good representation of wonderland, but it still means nothing. They seem to be sending a message that wonderland is reachable through chemical means and neglect to mention the other problems one would encounter in wonderland.
I would continue, but mother is back with more pills, and the song is very wrong about her. The pills she gives me do things, they make me sleep and they make my mind fuzzy. I wish mother would not force me to take them, but if I do not she will use a needle or the smoke. I do not like those things at all, so I will take the pills. I will just end this by saying that I am tired of these sorts of warped parodies of my life and I wish that I had just killed Lewis Carroll when I had the chance.
Physician's notes
Alice had to be sedated today, one of the nurses had brought in a music player that contained a song that set her off. She completely destroyed the man's mp3 player and then tried to strangle him with the headphones. I don't know why the nurse thought it was a good idea to bring that thing in, he's been reprimanded before for bringing that sort of thing around patients. This encounter has been further proof that Alice is not to be exposed to anything relating to Lewis Carroll. When she is exposed to anything that has to do with her interactions with him, or the book he wrote she becomes agitated and can only be calmed down by a heavy dosage of laudanum. There is a serious likelihood that she could harm herself or another person when she is agitated, as the bruises on the nurse's neck only too clearly shows.
If I am to think about how the lines are arranged I notice that they rhyme in a strange way. The second, fourth, and fifth line of each stanza rhyme, but the rest does not. It is not a common way for normal people to set up poetry at all, perhaps that also adds to the fact that it makes me feel comfortable. The fact that the line where one is told to ask Alice is treated as if it is only part of a line and the line after it seems to be treated as the one with a terminative word instead. It is quite strange indeed, not compared to what is down the rabbit hole, but still strange. Perhaps it is to confuse the listeners to make them feel disoriented so that the message of the song can be heard, or perhaps it is just an attempt to convey a slightly twisted nature to make the song impact more of its listeners. The second theory seems more in line with the vocal choices of the singer.
The song is also interesting in the fact that it seems to be addressed to those who are under the influence of many kinds of drugs, probably hallucinogens like those preferred by the March Hare before she supposedly fried her brain. Is this comparing the world that I see, the so called wonderland that Mr Carroll named to a hallucination caused by poor decisions? It seems as if they are unable to separate reality from fiction and so confuse the two. The idea that smoking, taking pills, or eating mushrooms would allow one into wonderland is absurd, but for some reason they seem to think I would be the guide in this situation. The images of Chessmen telling one where to go is similar to how it is in this place, as is the feeling that the pills can give you, but it seems as if they are speaking of something more pleasurable than being made to sleep. The final stanza sounds as if it is a good representation of wonderland, but it still means nothing. They seem to be sending a message that wonderland is reachable through chemical means and neglect to mention the other problems one would encounter in wonderland.
I would continue, but mother is back with more pills, and the song is very wrong about her. The pills she gives me do things, they make me sleep and they make my mind fuzzy. I wish mother would not force me to take them, but if I do not she will use a needle or the smoke. I do not like those things at all, so I will take the pills. I will just end this by saying that I am tired of these sorts of warped parodies of my life and I wish that I had just killed Lewis Carroll when I had the chance.
Physician's notes
Alice had to be sedated today, one of the nurses had brought in a music player that contained a song that set her off. She completely destroyed the man's mp3 player and then tried to strangle him with the headphones. I don't know why the nurse thought it was a good idea to bring that thing in, he's been reprimanded before for bringing that sort of thing around patients. This encounter has been further proof that Alice is not to be exposed to anything relating to Lewis Carroll. When she is exposed to anything that has to do with her interactions with him, or the book he wrote she becomes agitated and can only be calmed down by a heavy dosage of laudanum. There is a serious likelihood that she could harm herself or another person when she is agitated, as the bruises on the nurse's neck only too clearly shows.
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