“My name isn’t Alice, but I’ll keep looking for Wonderland.” – Lady Gaga, “Alice” (2020)
In the film Ratatouille (a long-time favourite in our house), there’s a wonderful scene where diners ask for something completely new—something that isn’t even on the menu. Chef Skinner agrees (albeit to try and trap Linguine), and an “off-menu” dish is born.
Well, consider this Rock the Joint Magazine’s own off-menu special.
It’s the sort of feature you’re unlikely to stumble across in most music magazines—and I can hear a few editors muttering in other publications!
Regular readers will already know our Alice. She’s the guitarist in our slightly eccentric in-house band, alongside Tegan on vocals and Ferdinand, our permanently grumpy troll drummer. Today, with reports that Sabrina Carpenter is developing a modern musical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, it seemed the perfect excuse to ask the one person truly qualified to discuss Lewis Carroll’s musical legacy.
So, I’ll leave the laptop with Alice. She’s settled into her favourite chair with a drink, her guitar leaning within arm’s reach—because guitarists never really put them away—and the Cheshire Cat quietly observing everything with that familiar knowing grin.
Over to you, Alice…
Hello everyone.
I thought I’d begin with one of my favourite moments from one of our own interviews.
We spoke to the wonderfully talented Roukaya B about her EP ContROUvercy, which features a song called Humpty Dumpty. Now, Humpty and I go back quite a long way, irritating wordsmith that he can be! He appears in Through the Looking-Glass, and he always struck me as rather fond of hearing himself talk, and lived a precarious life. Roukaya B was never short of interesting opinions.
When we asked Roukaya B about the song, she gave an answer I enjoyed.
“…it can feel like you’re knocked down, the pieces are all over the floor and nobody can put you back together again. Okay, you’re on the floor. Nobody else can put you back together, but it doesn’t say anything about Humpty not being able to put himself back together again.”
That’s exactly why stories survive.
People don’t simply retell them—they discover something new hidden inside them – witness Lorenza Wildcard’s “Madhouse” (linked below) who certainly nods toward a certain hatters tea party – one of those crazy nights!
And musicians have been borrowing from my adventures for decades.
Grace Slick certainly did.
Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” takes the Caterpillar, the Red Queen and several of my more unusual acquaintances before whisking them into the psychedelic world of the late 1960s. It’s not really my cup of tea (sneaky Hatter nod)—I somehow missed the whole hippie thing—but goodness me, what a vocal performance.
John Lennon wandered down the rabbit hole too.
“I Am the Walrus” borrows directly from The Walrus and the Carpenter. Small problem, John…you picked the villain! I never quite understood why anyone would choose to be the Walrus, although I suspect John enjoyed keeping everyone guessing.
I’ve often wondered whether a little of Wonderland also drifted into “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Lennon certainly knew the books well, and once you’ve spent enough time in Wonderland, reality starts looking wonderfully unreliable.
Even “Helter Skelter” seems to wink in my direction with its playful rhythm that reminds me of the Lobster Quadrille.
“Will you, won’t you…”
No thank you.
I remember that dance all too well, and the poets kept standing on my toes.
Thankfully, modern musicians still seem happy to visit.
Taylor Swift’s “Wonderland” transforms rabbit holes, Cheshire Cat smiles and losing your head into metaphors for a relationship that begins as a magical adventure before slowly unravelling.
“We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it.”
That’s rather the point of Wonderland, really.
You don’t visit expecting sensible directions.
You arrive, lose yourself for a while, and usually come back understanding something about yourself that you didn’t know before.
The video isn’t quite how I remember things—I certainly don’t recall streams of gold—but I’ll forgive the artistic licence. The Cheshire Cat seemed perfectly happy with it, although he rarely complains about anything.
Lady Gaga approached things rather differently with “Alice,” from her Chromatica album.
“My name isn’t Alice, but I’ll keep looking for Wonderland.”
Now there’s a line I understand.
Wonderland was never simply a place.
It’s the search for somewhere you feel you belong.
That’s why her song works so well. Behind the dance beat sits a very familiar desire—the hope that somewhere beyond the ordinary world, there’s somewhere brighter waiting to be discovered.
It’s comforting to know I’m still invited along for the journey.
Some artists don’t simply borrow a few images—they practically move in.
Marilyn Manson’s “Eat Me, Drink Me” wears Wonderland proudly across its title, although I must admit his version is considerably darker than the one I remember.
Then there’s In This Moment, whose album “The Dream” scatters rabbits, mirrors, clocks and rabbit holes throughout its artwork and lyrics. Clearly they spent rather a long time exploring the neighbourhood.
Even heavy metal has room for Wonderland.
Saxon’s “Queen of Hearts feels as though someone opened Through the Looking-Glass, scattered the pages across a recording studio and decided to sing the whole lot back to me.
Not that I’m complaining.
It’s rather flattering.
The funny thing is that Lewis Carroll finished writing my adventures more than 150 years ago, yet musicians are still chasing White Rabbits, talking to Caterpillars, smiling with Cheshire Cats and trying very hard not to lose their heads.
Perhaps that’s because Wonderland was never really about rabbits or queens.
It was about imagination.
About looking at the world from an unexpected angle.
Musicians have always been rather good at doing exactly that.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, my Dr Pepper has mysteriously emptied itself, the Cheshire Cat has vanished without offering to buy the next one, and my guitar has started giving me those impatient little looks that suggest it’s time to play.
Until next time…
…don’t be afraid to wander down the occasional rabbit hole.
You never know what song you might find waiting there.
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By Mark C. Chambers
&
Alice
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