Ode to Jefferson Airplane | Teen Ink

Ode to Jefferson Airplane

March 9, 2011
By LexxiBeck GOLD, Chicago, Illinois
LexxiBeck GOLD, Chicago, Illinois
12 articles 4 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Not only have I always had trouble distinguishing between what happened and what merely might have happened, but I remain unconvinced that the distinction, for my purposes, matters.&quot;<br /> -Joan Didion


I’m not sure how I first heard the song “White Rabbit”
or if I even heard it first
Maybe I read the lyrics somewhere or looked it up
after hearing Relient k’s song “Jefferson Aeroplane”
Either way, it was the first time I’d heard

that kind of psychedelic allusion to literature
with its strong ranchero beat
and female voice rumbling like a truck’s
idling engine

I’ve always envied the kind of girl
who can make her voice rumble down deep
like she’s a cowgirl holding her own in a pistol-Slick
chauvinistic shootout
The darts I’d spit in this vocal stick-up would
leave my sky-high throat done and dead

but not Grace.

Not Grace Potter, either
her sultry, dusky cover song
favoring the soundtrack of Tim Burton’s
gothic Alice with a cherry on top
of delectable cupcake noise

No one who writes a song about Wonderland
is afraid to use melodies that originate in a

carnival sideshow or a twisted fantasy
a little off-kilter
but haunting in the way that an angel
dressed in gray is far more compelling than
white.

Whether Through the Looking Glass or
on an Adventure,
the story of a girl who tumbled down a
rabbit hole piques my curiosity
and inspires and is inspired by
all things strange and beautiful

For all the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire
Cat and butterflies made out of bread
the best representation of any nonsense

is a little white rabbit who goes down
a hole with a pocket watch

and you grow ten feet tall
only to wake up and find out it’s
all a dream

or is it really?
I wouldn’t know
but you can go ask Alice
or just Jefferson Airplane


The author's comments:
This is the first thing I thought of when I heard the word "rabbit," and I think Alice's world is a little closer to my own than the real one. Also: educate yourself musically! Then you can love allusions, too.

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This article has 1 comment.


Paris1997 GOLD said...
on May. 29 2014 at 8:27 pm
Paris1997 GOLD, Lakeside, California
13 articles 4 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
The power of imagination makes us infinite. -John Muir

One of my favorite songs ever! :) Great job