🐇 About the Song
Grace Slick’s psychedelic war cry from 1967 remains one of the most hypnotic two-and-a-half minutes in rock. White Rabbit was the bridge between Lewis Carroll’s whimsy and the Summer of Love’s LSD-soaked rebellion. Written after Slick watched Disney’s Alice in Wonderland on acid (of course she did), it takes the innocent imagery of “feed your head” and turns it into a counter-culture sermon.
The genius is its form: a slow, bolero-style march that builds and builds until it explodes. No chorus, no hook — just relentless ascent. On the uke, you’re not strumming a pop tune; you’re conducting a ritual. By the time you reach “Feed your head,” you should feel like you’ve just seen colours that don’t exist.
🎸 Ukulele Playing Tips
- Chords: Am – Bb – C – G – F are your core steps up the rabbit hole. Follow the song’s ascending energy; don’t loop lazily.
- Rhythm: It starts slow (~70 bpm) and accelerates steadily. Set a metronome, practise increasing by 2–3 bpm per verse. That’s the magic trick.
- Strum pattern: Simple D – D – D – D, each downstroke firm and deliberate — bolero heartbeat. No swing, just drive.
- Dynamics: Begin whisper-quiet; increase volume and intensity line by line until the final “Feed your head!” is practically shouted.
- Tone: Low-G uke helps keep the dark tension; on high-G, emphasise closed chords to avoid chirpiness.
- Stage move: Freeze on the final chord. Let silence do the heavy lifting. People will clap, partly from fear.
🧠 Trivia You Can Drop Casually
- Grace Slick wrote White Rabbit while still in her previous band, The Great Society; Jefferson Airplane stole both her and the song — excellent decision.
- The tune was inspired by Ravel’s Boléro. That’s why it feels like a classical piece disguised as a trip.
- Banned by many US radio stations for “drug references,” it still became a Top 10 hit. Nothing stops a good rabbit.
- It’s been used in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Matrix Resurrections, and roughly 4 million drug documentaries.
🌈 Final Word
This isn’t a lullaby — it’s controlled chaos. Play it with precision, keep that tempo climbing, and by the end you’ll swear your uke grew fangs. If your audience looks slightly dazed, you nailed it.
