For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs
My experience with music from the 60’s is complicated. Born in the decade that followed, my exposure to 60’s music didn’t really happen until I reached high school. It started where most teenagers get their classic rock kicks: Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix. I still love all of those artists, but now that I’m in my 40’s I find myself appreciating bands and musicians that I just didn’t have an attraction to back in my high school years. This includes Leonard Cohen, Nico, Nick Drake and Jefferson Airplane. Of the latter, my favorite song by far is “White Rabbit”.
A reimagination of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “White Rabbit” is a trip. It brings the classic story to life in a psychedelic twist probably created with the aid of mind-expanding substances. It goes down a rabbit hole of Spanish-influenced rhythms and guitar playing. Grace Slick once said that the song was heavily influenced by Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain album, which you can hear most clearly in the instrumentation, but also in the melody as well. “White Rabbit” is a wild blend of cultures and mediums with an adult’s liberating interpretation of a childhood tale.
“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.”