Rabbit Songs: 25 Hoppin' Tracks for Easter
25
'Enjoy Your Rabbit'
Sufjan Stevens (2001)
With this frantic art-rock instrumental's racing tempos and zig-zag signatures, you can't help but picture lop-eared lapins darting away as chef Ramsay bounds after them with a butcher knife. But the culinary subtext of Sufjan Stevens's 'Enjoy Your Rabbit' was later undercut by a 2009 string-quartet re-release on the album 'Run Rabbbit Run.'
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24
'Velvet Rabbit'
Kimya Dawson (2005)
This wistful 2004 solo cut from the Moldy Peaches singer features all sorts of confusing sexual imagery -- "fromunda cheese" included. The "soft" velvet rabbit that's "wrapped in a bubble" (because of scary germs) sounds way more like an ode to dental dams than a tribute to the classic children's book 'The Velveteen Rabbit.'
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23
'Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat'
Sparks
Ron Mael and co. had never truly risen to success in the U.S. like they did across the pond after 1983's 'In Outer Space.' But the Sparks' homage to every magician's best friend remains a synth-pop darling among the ruins of '80s musical excess. Timeless? Maybe not. Magical? Oh, yes.
Redferns
22
'Are You the Rabbit?'
Marilyn Manson (2007)
It's no surprise that Marilyn Manson has a decidedly creepy slant for his rabbit-themed rock song. The venomous song off 2007's 'Eat Me, Drink Me' sees the controversial singer offering a chilling account of inner demons and toxic lovers. You know, just another romantic ditty from our favorite shock rocker.
Redferns
21
'Horns of a Rabbit'
Do Make Say Think (2003)
Recorded by the most esoteric of the Broken Social Scene-related bands, Do Make Say Think's 'Horns' includes full-time BSSer Charles Spearin and is helmed by occasional Scenester Ohad Benchetrit. This post-rock instrumental doesn't include any rabbit-related lyricism outside of its title. Still, we're pretty sure this is what bunny dreams sound like.
Redferns
20
'Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along'
Jesus Lizard (1989)
The Chicago-based muck-rock band's ode to Peter Cotton Tail isn't all fluff and stuff. Jesus Lizard conjure up images of a rabbit running -- more for his life than for recreation -- through an industrial hellscape full of swinging chainsaw traps and treacherous spiked pits.
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19
'Jack Rabbit'
Herbie Hancock (1964)
Featured back on Hancock's 1989 album 'Inventions & Dimensions,' this song is handled with subtle hints of reverb and sparse piano instrumentation. A drum steadily keeps the pace while Herb's piano-hands chase random notes around five key signatures, like a jack rabbit defying Darwinism.
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18
'Rabbit'
Chas n' Dave (1981)
In East London's arcane Cockney rhyming slang, "rabbit (and pork)" means "talk." There nothing obscure, however, about how cheeky chappies Chas 'n Dave feel about the lovely-but-loquacious lady to whom the song is directed. "You won't stop talking/why don't you give it a rest?" they ask. The real question is: can love overcome rabbit?
Chasndave.net
17
'Dust Bunny'
Bettie Serveert (1997)
The Dutch band's bare-bones 1999 track, from the album 'Dust Bunnies,' was inspired by Mary Karr's memoir 'The Liars' Club.' A recounting of the author's bleak childhood, the book inspired singer Carol van Dijk to write cheery lines about her own upbringing, such as "You're nine years old, your body's cold/And underneath the bed the world seems gray."
Lex Van Rossen
16
'Bunnies'
Pansy Division (1996)
Jon Ginoli and co. formed this stand-out, openly gay punk band in San Francisco in the early '90s and even though their subject matter is usually geared toward the homosexual populous, this is a song all walks of life can enjoy as it details the carnal desires of passionate lovers through the chorus lyrics like "and then we f--- like bunnies."
Pansydivision.com
15
'I Am a Rabbit'
The Lemonheads (1987)
Lemonheads came to fame with 'Mrs. Robinson,' but it wasn't their first cover. Back in '86 the band recorded this cut by Kiwi punks Proud Scum for their debut EP 'Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners.' It's about humping like bunnies, so a fine fit for Evan Dando's ladies man rep.
Redferns
14
'Mr. Rabbit'
Paul Westerberg
The Replacements frontman and barfight aficionado featured this tune of wildlife appreciation on his solo album 'Stereo.' Westerberg preaches about the delicate features of a one Mr. Rabbit, his long ears and grey fur, over cyclical guitar chords and an unforgettable rock lick.
Redferns
13
'Rabbit's Dying'
Throwing Muses (1986)
The Rhode Island Throwing Musesrockers describe Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit late for his very last date, as his clock begins to wind down and his feet come out from under him. At least he died well dressed, in a waistcoat.
Redferns
12
'Devil Bunnies'
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kultn (1989)
In the mid '80s, disco was beginning to change and evolve into a more industrial, sleazey sound, and TKK's approach to the genre was to plunge it into the world of the occult. 'Devil Bunnies' doesn't make much sense, but it definitely makes you groove like a Satanist.
Redferns
11
'Who Could Win a Rabbit?'
Animal Collective (2004)
This fuzzy tune from Baltimore's experimental rockers Animal Collective features surreal rhymes, "wabbits" and "habits," but it's the inconsistent time signature that gets all the attention. This bunny tune hops all over the place.
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10
'Evil Rabbit'
Roots Manuva (2001)
The acclaimed UK rapper's sonics have always been dark -- there's a thin line between his early Big Dada beats and the subsequent dubstep movement. But this extra-eerie track from his 2001 breakthrough 'Run Come Save Me' album sounds like it's about the evilest rabbit this side of Bunnicula.
Redferns
09
'Down in a Rabbit Hole'
Bright Eyes (2005)
Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst entered the electronic landscape back in 2005 with the release of his unique, glitchy album 'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.' As the climax of the album, 'Rabbit Hole' paints a terrifying-yet-irresistible picture of labyrinthine emo, where howling and lurking rule the gigabyte dark.
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08
'Rabbit Fighter'
T-Rex (1972)
This T-Rex glam rock, stream-of-consciousness slow jam shouts out to Moondog and warns of the electric dangers of bedding politicians. The meaning of Mark Bolan's promise to "rabbit fight all over you" might be a bit ambiguous, but a furry ferociousness is coming in clear.
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07
'Red Rabbits'
The Shins (2007)
The Shins pull listeners down a wondrous rabbit hole of sounds with this tropicalia-infused tune from 2007's 'Wincing the Night Away.' Though it's hard to decipher the puzzling tale James Mercer weaves as he sings of red rabbits tumbling from a gunnysack, there's no mistaking the dreamy instrumentation which makes this track as soothing as a lullaby.
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06
'White Rabbit'
Jefferson Airplane (1967)
When Grace Slick joined Jefferson Airplane, she brought her iconic, Lewis Carroll's Alice-alluding tune along. Not only was it a hit for the psychedelic band, but it became one of the first songs to make it past radio censors despite being heavily laced with drug references. So the Dormouse hadn't actually said, "Feed your head." It's alright. The song's a mood piece.
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05
'Myxomatosis'
Radiohead
If the bunny genocide of 'Watership Down' frightened you as a child, then you'll be happy to know that a similar event occurred in Australia in the 1950s. On 'Hail to the Thief,' Radiohead tell the tail of 'Myxomatosis,' a rapidly fatal disease that was introduced into the wild rabbit population across Aussie land to control the pests from destroying the nation's delicate crops.
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04
'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'
Florence and the Machine (2009)
Going from an unknown to an internationally buzzed-about artist can be a difficult thing to handle. For Florence Welch, it meant being the "rabbit-hearted girl" who has to sacrifice her life for her "gift." If there's a lesson here, it's that offering up an organ still won't get you a Best New Artist Grammy.
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03
'Rabbit In Your Headlights'
UNKLE (1998)
British electronic duo UNKLE were wise to recruit Radiohead's Thom Yorke for vocal (and writing) duties on this hypnotic cut. With Yorke's sublime voice set against UNKLE's entrancing melodies, 'Headlights' feels as fresh as ever despite its '90s pedigree.
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02
'Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits'
The Magnetic Fields (1999)
For the Magnetic Fields' epic '69 Love Songs,' Stephin Merritt wrote an army of tunes in many musical styles and sentiments, from the self-deprecating glee of 'I'm the Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side' to homicidal melancholy of 'Yeah! Oh, Yeah!' This light and randy ditty, stylized after the New Wave stylings of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, simplified love down to enduring libido, beers and maybe a little bunny cosplay.
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01
'Rabbit Run'
Eminem (2002)
Named after Eminem's semi-autobiographical '8-Mile' character, 'Rabbit Run' takes its title literally, sprinting forward without a chorus, much less a pause. 'Lose Yourself' won the Oscar, but this brilliant bunny-branded banger seizes the moment without resorting to self-help platitudes, earning its rep as one of Em's sickest, quickest cuts.
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- Filed under: The Hit List
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