Ask “Mr. Music”
Jerry Osborne



FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 2, 1998

DEAR JERRY: I have asked many people about a line in Jefferson Airplane's “White Rabbit,” but no one can help me. The mystery words are those in the beginning of the last verse that follow: “When logic and proportion.”

I found a web site devoted to song lyrics and they have it as “When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.” But that makes no sense in an otherwise very sensible song.

Was lead singer and writer of this song Grace Slick so high at the time that we'll never get her meaning?
—Stephen A. Kirsch, Lancaster, Pa.

DEAR STEPHEN: I figured having two Airplane recordings of “White Rabbit” available — the hit version and one recorded live — to audition would settle this mystery, and I'm convinced it has.

Contrary to what you state, on both tracks it clearly sounds like Slick is saying: “When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.” Furthermore, it comes through cleanly, not the least bit inaudible or vague.

I should point out that some feel strongly that the line is “When logic and proportion have fallen SOFTLY dead.”

As for making sense, we all know that has never been a requirement in the rock and roll field, even less so in those drug-influenced tunes of the late '60s.

My take on this is that all of Alice in Wonderland's other-worldly adventures defy logic and proportion, to the point where these things are sloppy dead and cease to exist.

Storyteller Lewis Carroll's imagination notwithstanding, one might say the line makes as much sense as a white knight talking backwards, a headhunting red queen, a talking chessboard, a talking dormouse, and a hookah-smoking caterpillar.

DEAR JERRY: Before Frank Sinatra died, a friend discovered that I am a Sinatra fan and he got out all of his LPs and made me a cassette tape. I was amazed at the number of songs I hadn't heard in a long time.

However, one tune has turned out to be quite a little mystery. It sounds like Sinatra is singing “Gin Gee,” though I'm not sure. I have looked through all the recording catalogs and I can't find anything even similar, so I may be wrong about the title, though it certainly sounds like “Oh Gin Gee, if I only had words I would say, all the beautiful things that I see when you're with me.” Please help me.
—Sophie Callaghan, Spring Hill, Fla.

DEAR SOPHIE: It can be difficult by merely listening to a cassette to know an exact title. What sounds to you like “Gin Gee” is really “Dindi.”

“Dindi” first appeared on the 1967 LP, “Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim” (Reprise 1021). It is also found on “The Reprise Collection,” a four-disc boxed set issued in 1990.

DEAR JERRY: Can you please direct me to a store or source for replacement sleeves for LPs?
—Martin Delouise, Lowell, Ma.

DEAR MARTIN: For you as well as for Casimer Skorka, of Chicago, who asks the same question: Every conceivable record and CD supply item is easily available from Bags Unlimited, based in Rochester, New York. Call them toll-free and request their current catalog: 1-800 767-BAGS.

IZ ZAT SO? In a conversation today with “Record Research” publisher, Joel Whitburn, the topic of Frank Sinatra's chart span arose. Frank first charted a single in mid-1940 with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. This year he had one LP on the Top 200 and a few others on the Top Catalog LP list. That 58-year span is unequaled by any other artist ever.






Return to "Mr. Music" Home Page