White Rabbit (song)

This article is about the Jefferson Airplane song. For the Egypt Central song, see White Rabbit (Egypt Central album). For other uses, see White Rabbit (disambiguation).
"White Rabbit"
Single by Jefferson Airplane
from the album Surrealistic Pillow
B-side"Plastic Fantastic Lover"
ReleasedJune 1967 (1967-06)[1]
RecordedNovember 3, 1966 (1966-11-03)[2]
StudioRCA Victor (Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length2:31
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Grace Slick
Producer(s)Rick Jarrard
Jefferson Airplane singles chronology
"Somebody to Love"
(1967) 		"White Rabbit"
(1967) 		"The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"
(1967)
Music video
"White Rabbit" on YouTube

"White Rabbit" is a song written by Grace Slick and recorded by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane for their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It draws on imagery from Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass.

It was released as a single and became the band's second top-10 success, peaking at number eight[6] on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[7] in 2004, number 483 in 2010, and number 455 in 2021 and appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[8]

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 430. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Tamarkin, Jeff (2003). Surrealistic Pillow (Liner notes). Jefferson Airplane. BMG Heritage. 82876 50351 2.
  3. ^ Myers, Marc (May 31, 2016). "How Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick Wrote 'White Rabbit'". International Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  4. ^ Heller, Jason; Spanos, Brittany; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Harris, Keith; Greene, Andy (January 29, 2016). "Jefferson Airplane: 12 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  5. ^ Masley, Ed (May 30, 2017). "Sgt. Pepper and beyond: A look back at 20 great albums released in 1967". azcentral. Retrieved November 3, 2023. ...the Lewis Carroll-inspired acid-rock bolero of "White Rabbit".
  6. ^ "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  7. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. December 9, 2004. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  8. ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.