One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small/
And the ones that mother gives you, don’t do anything at all.
Gracie Slick wrote one of the tent-poles of psychedelic rock with Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”. The song is obviously about drug use, but also about curiosity. What is the song saying about drugs and what is the meaning of the White Rabbit? One of the main messages is that teenagers see drugs being used by their parents and see drugs being used in the fairy tales being read to them as children, so why wouldn’t they be interested in drugs?
What else would you expect? Alice in Alice in Wonderland takes a pill to make her big or make her small. Mothers are taking Valium and alcohol; it is around us our whole lives.
The production of the record is amazing. It sounds like Slick is singing down a giant hole. That fits in perfectly with the theme of the song. The rhythm section drives much of the melody. The intro bass riff is amazing. The drums sound like a marching band that the white knights on the chessboard might be marching to. But overall, this song comes down to Slick’s amazing vocal. She sings like she is delivering an urgent message…and in a sense, she is.
White Rabbit 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
He called 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
Songwriters: Grace Wing Slick
