2. 1. Wonderland – Natalia Kills
What I understand of Wonderland
(including the video) is that she
gave up on finding True Love, but
society (the guards), is making her
believe, against her will that she
NEEDS to find the right guy and
settle down to be happy. The line
"Will you wake me up If I bite your
poison apple" refers to her
wondering that, if she believes
what they say, will it really come
true.
The fighting part is what happens when you refuse
to "conform" to what society thinks and believes:
people start to argue with you and make you feel
horrible for believing in something different.
And the execution is an homage to everyone who
has ever died for "thinking outside the box"
In the video, the drugged
cupcakes represent all the lies
that people feed you to make you
believe that this is what you need.
And that once you start, you
become addicted to believing it.
The chorus takes the twisted horror that is
wonderland, the land of wonders that are actually
turn out to be horrors, and applies it to societies
view of "settling down"
I may choose this song for my track list because of the
clear connection to Mad Hatter, although It can be said the
genre of the song may be a bit different in that it is a bit
more pop.
3. 2. Drink Me – Anna Nalick
Given that there are not only other references to Alice in Wonderland, but it is based on a part of East
of Eden that specifically has to do with Alice in Wonderland, I'm also quite sure that it is supposed to
be "Alice" and not "Ellis". This is why it is clear to me that it should be part of my tracklist, however it
is much more slow than the other songs and mad hatter.
it's based on Cathy from John Steinbeck's East of Eden, but it completely leaves out the significant evil
of her character... It focuses more on when she grows old running her brothel and becomes afraid.
Along with this, she becomes arthritic and loses the beauty she has had for her entire life. In the novel
Cathy does wear poison about her neck, and actually recalls a time when she was a child and drank
water pretending it was the "Eat Me" or "Drink Me" (not sure) from Alice and Wonderland, and that it
would make her smaller and smaller and she had fantastic adventures. She always leaves a little bit of
her Drink Me water left, because her safety net if she ever wanted was that drinking the entire bottle
would make her disappear forever. Near the end of the novel when she drinks the poison that she
keeps around her neck, this is what she is remembering and she is drinking all of the "Drink Me" to
disappear forever.
4. 3. Tea Party – Kerli
The video shows Kerli throwing a large tea party
for her guests, who are dressed in very lavish
outfits. It then shows Kerli before the party,
adding a potion to the tea which causes her guests
to turn into dolls which she picks up a places in a
row on the shelf.
Kerli says "triangles symbolize
creation, all elements, male and
female."
The red and white symbolizes the good
and evil, like the red and white queens
in Alice in Wonderland.
This song goes with my genre
and she even sounds similar to
Melanie Martinez, so this would
work very well.
5. 4. Alice– Avril Lavigne
This song is about Alice from Alice in
Wonderland...but I think if you look past that its a
song about telling yourself that no matter what
happens or how many times life knocks you down
that you are strong enough to get back up and
keep fighting. That no one can stop you from
doing what you want.
This song was actually made for the
Alice and Wonderland film. This is
very relevant to what I want my
album to say. Its about self
motivation, which means I would
probably put this song lower down
on the track list.
6. 5. My Demons – Starset
"Take me high and I'll sing, you make everything
okay!" This line is basically saying "Stay with me,
you make the stress go away."
"We are one in the same, you take all of the pain
away!" This line, I believe, is saying he has found
someone who understands what he went through
before, and this person makes him happy (or
possibly inspires him to be so accepting).
"Save me if I become my demons." This line is
saying he doesn't want to go back to the life he
had, and he's basically apologizing for future
reference in-case he does something bad.
This is what it feels like to have depression or anxiety. You're fighting
it, but failing and you need help - "Mayday! Mayday! The ship is slowly
sinking". People think you're crazy but they don't feel what your feeling
- "They think I'm crazy but they don't know the feeling" people can't
understand what you're going through until they feel it too.
7. 6. House of Cards– Janet Devlin
This song is about love and explains the issues of
building up and watching the love and everything
you’ve worked for come crashing down.
Janet Devlin has a similar voice to Martinez, and
she has a delicate tone. It is also very much indie
pop so I probably will use this song for my track
list.
8. 7. Habits – Tove Lo
Lyrically, the song is a graphic depiction of
Tove Lo's hedonistic attempts to get over her
ex. ‘Some people have a problem with me
portraying that ugliness, but that's the only
way I can write.“
This song is appropriate for the track list
because it is similar in the way of how blunt
mad hatter is, it is also indie pop.
It can be said that her suffering co insides
with Alice in Mad Hatter as she is also in
torture with herself.
9. 8. Not on Drugs – Tove Lo
The whole song encases the feeling of
being high off of various emotions,
especially pertaining to love. This is a
metaphorical high.
The last line of the Pre-Hook shows that,
although, every song is very personal
and comes from Tove’s life and
experiences; it can be looked at solely
from the perspective of a deeply
romantic relationship.
She is actually not on drugs at all she is
completely fine, however the term ‘love
is addictive’ is proven here.
10. 9. Break The Rules – Charli XCX
This song is all about teen
rebellion and being disobedient
for a living. She deliberately
doesn’t conform to these
expectations of her, she instead
uses her lifestyle to make a
statement. She is happy with
being different because she
wants to be.
The element of rebellion and not
conforming to the status quo is
what is so similar to Mad Hatter,
she also has a similar voice and
the song is relatively similar in
tempo and pitch.
11. 10. Cool Kids – Echosmith
This song is about how you don’t
fit in, and are always longing to
be normal. It is rather upbeat,
however the meaning of the song
ties in perfectly with Mad Hatter.
It is much more pop than I would
like however, so I may cut this
one out if I have to.
12. 11. Haunting – Halsey
This is a story about Halsey
seeing her ex lovers ghost, and
to make her better she wants
him to haunt her. This may show
her signs of depression, she is in
a clinical depression over the loss
of her boyfriend. The song is
showing desperation.
Halsey is considered to be very
similar to Martinez, and this song
is very similar to her voice, this
would add continuity. It also
could be said that this should
come before Mad Hatter to show
her haunting actually drives her
insane.
13. 12. Hold Me Down – Halsey
This is a song about demons holding
down who she is, they are stopping her
from doing what she wants. However
she also says she lives for it, which may
refer to live for confrontation and to be
put down. It can be noted that she
needs to be free. That the demons are
constantly holding her down, whether
they are real or not is another question.
It also goes well with Mad Hatter
because of Halseys style and the idea
that society is pressing against who
these people are, they cannot be
themselves.
14. 13. Rabbit Heart – Florence & the
Machine
I think the song is about a young woman who is afraid
of human closeness because of bad experiences she
made in her past while she was vulnerable (when she
was a child) and now still feels like she is in danger if
she doesn't hide herself.
In fact it's her own fear, she that to overcome. The
fear is represented by a metaphorical figure she calls
"Midas".
She is trying to say that she is offering herself, being
used is what is the done thing, she is used to sexism,
and isn’t used to being treated correctly.
Her voice is very high pitched, this may not work the
continuity, however the rabbit references and the high
pitch tone makes the song sound asif she is in pain
and is screaming to be helped and saved by someone
15. 14. Roses – The Chainsmokers
This song also refers to the Rabbit heart
as they both use Midas as a metaphor
of turning into gold. This song is about
her falling for someone new, this is
good because it may be able to come
last in the tracklist.
These artists are also indie pop,
however this song is rather current.
(only brought out 9 months ago).
