Jefferson Airplane was a pioneering band of the 1960s’ era of psychedelic and acid rock. And psychedelic rock is known for its odd, disjointed, and trippy elements. With Halloween just around the corner, let’s look at just a few of Jefferson Airplane’s trippiest (and creepiest) songs! Just keep in mind that this list isn’t definitive; Jefferson Airplane wrote and produced a real laundry list of psychedelic trip-fests in their heyday.
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1. “White Rabbit”
This would definitely not be a list of Jefferson Airplane’s trippiest songs without mentioning the famous 1967 song “White Rabbit”. The song is based on Lewis Carroll’s famed surrealist book Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, so it’s obviously got a few bizarre and unsettling elements to it.
Regardless of whether or not the song creeps you out or puts you in the right headspace, one can’t deny that this track is simply one of the greatest songs of all time.
2. “Lather”
Grace Slick penned this surreal psychedelic track for the 1968 album Crown Of Creation. It was a B-side, but we think it deserved its own proper release.
Slick said that she wrote the song about her then-boyfriend and fellow band member Spencer Dryden, mainly about his fear of growing up. It’s a dark, almost grunge-y psychedelic tune, and Slick’s vocals are disjointed and chaotic.
3. “The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil”
This Paul Kantner-penned track is the opener of the 1967 album After Bathing At Baxter’s. Some would describe this song as unsettling, while others would simply say it’s an off-beat piece of work.
That pulsating rhythm, the shower of sound from the guitars, the trippy sound effects… It doesn’t get weirder than this, but it’s still an incredible song that was a defining track for the band.
4. “Crown Of Creation”
The title track of Crown Of Creation from 1968 deserved more love on the Hot 100 chart when it was first released. We’d say this is one of Jefferson Airplane’s most acid-rock-sounding songs, complete with lyrics pulled from the John Wyndham science fiction novel The Chrysalids.
This song is incredibly trippy, but it’s also a well-purposed work. The spooky lyrics were used as an anthem for the counterculture of the time. “In loyalty to their kind / They cannot tolerate our minds / In loyalty to our kind / We cannot tolerate their obstruction” sounds revolutionary in this song.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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