AFI in Wonderland
by ash R.

The once-punk California band AFI (A Fire Inside) definitely has a connection to Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, Alice in Wonderland. This has been noticeable in recent years, and in a variety of ways. Included in the variety are song lyrics, video/DVD themes, album art, and pictures. Let’s go down the rabbit hole, shall we?

In fact, let’s discuss the band’s guitarist’s crotch. Much like a rabbit hole leads Alice into an alternate world, so does Jade Puget’s crotch provide the doorway to such a world in the video for the song “Girl’s Not Grey.” The song is from the 2003 release “Sing the Sorrow” (STS), which contains other references. But having a girl character travel through anything into a world other than our own can quite clearly be linked to Alice. Furthermore, the fact that a rabbit of sorts is involved in all this proves a deeper connection to AiW.

Also, recently i purchased the STS Special Edition, which includes a copy of the cd, as well as a copy of the band’s DVD, “Clandestine”. There is one scene in the DVD in which Adam, the drummer, is playing a card game (poker, I’ll assume) in order to win the mysterious box around which the plot of the whole film is centered. On the table with the box are a rabbit and a pocket-watch. One recalls what the White Rabbit in chapter one of AiW took out of his waistcoat pocket: a pocket-watch. Need I even state the reference of the cards? Cards are what prosecute Alice in the courtroom. In one illustration, they are raining down on her. Is it any wonder I can link cards, a rabbit, and a pocket-watch to the tale of Alice which involved all the same?

As for album art, there is a rabbit in the Sing the Sorrow cover, and rabbits are often linked, by Alice fanatics, to our beloved story. Also, in Through the Looking Glass, Alice comes across a garden of live flowers. Artist John Tenniel’s illustration of this scene shows the flowers with faces. One of the drawings in the STS album art is of some daffodils that also have faces. Considering the other evidence presented thus far, it is hard not to see this as yet another Alice reference.

Although I can only immediately recall one alice reference in an AFI song lyric, the preciseness of it is great. “What’s on the other side of the mirror?” inquires vocalist Davey Havok in the song “Dream of Waking”, a track exclusive to the vinyl version of the album “The Art of Drowning”. Come to think of it, the book’s “Lobster Quadrille” involves asking one to join a dance, and so does “Dancing through Sunday”, yet another song on STS, thru the words, “will you join me in this dance of misery?" it's pretty similar.

Whether most realize it or not, there is a photograph of the vocalist that looks much like an illustration from AIW. In this photo, Davey holds a plastic lawn flamingo. It is much like the picture in the book, where Alice attempts to wield a flamingo like a croquet mallet. Observe:

not an exact replica, but still very close. I first saw this picture of Davey after I’d begun making other connections, and this pretty much sealed the deal. So, whether you agree or not, you know now why I, a fan of both A Fire Inside and Alice in Wonderland, think the two are alike.

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