The Rabbit Hole of Love: Taylor’s Wonderland Song Meaning

Wonderland (Taylor’s Version) is a rabbit hole of adventure. Taylor uses Alice in Wonderland to inspire her own twisted and turning tale of choices, consequences, and chaos. 

What’s really going on in this song, and what can we surmise from the lyrics? What do all the Alice references represent? 

Here’s my complete Wonderland analysis, line by line. 

Wonderland (Taylor’s Version) 

• Title: Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)
• Written by: Taylor Swift, Shellback, Max Martin
• Track: 14, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
• Pen: Fountain 
• Lyrics from Genius

Wonderland Song Analysis: Narrative Synopsis

• Setting: The real world, then Wonderland. 
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), Subject (“you”, her partner she goes to Wonderland with), “They” and “strangers” (elders or wider world). 
• Mood: confused, frustrated, reflective. 
• Conflict: Goes to “Wonderland” and gets abandoned there. 
• Inciting Incident: “Took a wrong turn and we fell down a rabbit hole.” 
• Quest: Find her way back out of Wonderland, and make sense of what happened. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: Wonderland (referencing Alice in Wonderland), “rabbit hole,” “green eyes,” gossip/media speculation, madness/insanity. 
• Theme: Losing your mind for love; being led astray. 
• Imagery: “flashin’ lights,” “flash your green eyes at me,” “ felt your arms twistin’ around me,” “I should have slept with one eye open at night,” “whispers turned to talkin’ / And talking turned to screams,” “calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile.” 
• Lesson: Don’t get hypnotized into leaving the world behind for love. 

Wonderland (Taylor’s Version) Lyric Video

Who is Wonderland About? 

Taylor has never revealed who Wonderland was inspired by. But it’s speculated to be about Harry Styles, whom Taylor dated pre-1989 release. 

What is Wonderland About? 

Wonderland compares a turbulent relationship to the “Adventures of Alice in Wonderland”, the Lewis Carroll classic novel from the 19th century. 

In the lyrics, the two protagonists fall down a “rabbit hole” of love, and Taylor’s love interest abandons her there. She must find her way out and back home to safety, just like the titular Alice.

Wonderland Lyrics Meaning: Line by Line

Verse one opens with “flashin’ lights.” This could reference the “flashing lights” of I Know Places, where the lights represent paparazzi bulbs flashing. But it could also mean a warning sign, or something that blinds you. 

They’re distracted or blinded by the lights, “and we took a wrong turn.” They’re going in the wrong direction, and “we fell down a rabbit hole.” 

The “rabbit hole” is the first direct reference to ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ which was alluded to in the title. In the classic novel, the protagonist Alice falls down a rabbit hole and into the confusing, mixed-up world of Wonderland. 

“You held on tight to me”, she says, when they fall down the hole. “‘Cause nothing’s as it seems.” Illusion and confusion are two big themes in Alice, and they will be in this song, too. 

They’re “spinning out of control”: it’s chaos, and they’re dizzy. 

Pre-Chorus: “Haven’t You Heard What Becomes of Curious Minds?”

The pre-chorus echoes warnings from some unknown characters: “Didn’t they tell us, “Don’t rush into things”?” Taylor says.

Who is “they”? Maybe elders, maybe the “creatures” they meet in “Wonderland,” maybe general life advice given by anyone. 

But she didn’t heed the warnings: “didn’t you flash your green eyes at me?” This conjures a kind of hypnosis or blinding, akin to the “flashing lights” of the first verse. 

“Haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?” Taylor says. This is also a major theme in Alice, where the protagonists curiosity comes back to bite her as she explores the perilous setting of Wonderland.

Here, she was too curious about him – and hypnotized by his green eyes – to make sane choices. 

It all seemed “new and exciting,” but “I felt your arms twistin’ around me.” This conjures up the imagery and constriction of a snake, wrapping her tighter and tighter. 

This also could reference a moment in the Alice animated version (Disney), when the bird mistakes Alice for a serpent. Here, the serpent is him, and she’s mistaken him for her lover and protector. 

“I should have slept with one eye open at night,” she says. This is ominous: something terrible is coming, and the partner she’s next to has just been compared to a snake. 

🩵🩵 Can you pass the 1989 TV Lyrics Quiz? 🩵🩵

Chorus: “We Found Wonderland, You and I Got Lost in It”

In the chorus, the Alice metaphors come full circle. “We found Wonderland,” she says. “You and I got lost in it.” So what is Wonderland for Taylor? 

In the book, it’s a confusing land where nothing makes sense. But it’s also wonderful to be in a place where magical things happen, and you never know what’s coming next. Alice is both surprised, delighted, and terrified at this strange world she’s fallen into.

“We pretended it could last forever,” she says. But in the book, Alice has to make her way back home when it gets scary, and she’s about to be hunted down and killed. 

“Life was never worse, but never better,” she says, while they’re “in Wonderland.” 

The repetition of Wonderland in the post-chorus emphasis the term itself. “Wonder” is to question; is she questioning the whole thing? Is it “I Wonder-Land,” where she wonders what they could have done differently?

Is this her mind mixed up over what’s occurring, and trying to make sense of it now? 

Verse 2: “Whispers Turned to Talkin’, and Talking Turned to Screams”

Verse two sees them going deeper and deeper into Wonderland. “We went on our way / too in love to think straight.” They’re merrily rolling along through this new and exciting place. 

“All alone or so it seemed / but there were strangers watchin’” echoes many moments from Alice, where she thinks she’s alone, but she’s really being watched by all the magical creatures who inhabit the land. 

In this case, their relationship is being spied on and gossiping about them. “Whispers turned to talkin’ and talking turned to screams.” 

This means the gossip (and possibly media speculation) is getting intense. The “scream” is not of the media, but of Taylor herself. This is turning into a horror story, much as it does for Alice. 

Pre-Chorus: “Calm My Fears With a Cheshire Cat Smile”

The pre-chorus changes “haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?” to “didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile?” 

The Cheshire Cat is a mischievous character in Alice, who is always appearing and disappearing, fully or partially, leaving his floating smile glowing in front of Alice’s eyes. 

What is her lover’s “Cheshire cat smile?” It’s devious. It’s ominous. It’s a fake smile, meant to make her feel at ease. 

The other line that changes from the first pre-chorus is “I should have slept with one eye open at night” to “It’s all fun and games ’til somebody loses their mind.” 

She didn’t guard her heart carefully enough, playing fast and loose in the “game of love.” And because of her lack of caution, she lost her mind, just as Alice is threatened by the Queen of Hearts: “off with her head!”

Bridge: “In Wonderland, We Both Went Mad”

In the bridge, he goes from manipulating her to finally ghosting her. “I reached for you, but you were gone.” She’s unsteady without him by her side. 

“I knew I had to go back home,” she says. But she’s in “Wonderland”, and will have to find her own way back out. 

Another major theme of Alice is at play here. In the book, Alice has to learn to be self-reliant in order to survive and find her way back out. The same is happening for Taylor. 

After he leaves, he searches “the whole world for somethin’ else / to make you feel like what we had.” But he can’t ‘find Wonderland’ with anyone else. 

“In the end, in Wonderland,” she says, “we both went mad.” The place they found – which was at first wonderful and exciting – turned them both crazy. 

Madness is also a large theme in Alice, represented by Hatter (in later iterations called “The Mad Hatter”). Hatter and his cohort Hare are referred to by the Cheshire Cat as “both mad.” 

This theme is similar to a line in Taylor’s Forever and Always secret message: “If you play these games, we’re both going to lose.” 

They played with the magical games of Wonderland, and they both “went mad.” They both lost, and got lost.

Final Chorus: “Life Was Never Worse, But Never Better”

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it

And we pretended it could last forever (Could last forever)

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it (Got lost in it)

And life was never worse, but never better (Never better)

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it (In Wonderland)

And we pretended it could last forever (In Wonderland)

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it (In Wonderland)

And life was never worse, but never better

In Wonderland

-Taylor Swift, “Wonderland” (Taylor’s Version)

Her final message is “And life was never worse, but never better / In Wonderland.” It was a wild ride down rabbit holes, full of mystery and excitement. But – ultimately – it ended in madness. 

So what is Wonderland for Taylor? We can surmise that it’s the wild ride of love, where confusion, heartbreak, ghosting and manipulation make common appearances. 

In the end of Alice, she emerges and it was all a dream. But was it a dream for Taylor? No. This likely actually happened. But comparing it to the imaginary Wonderland makes it have dream-like qualities. 

Those dreams turned into nightmares just as “whispers turned to talkin’ / And talking turned to screams.” 

But in the end, Taylor finds her own way out, and that’s the message here. No matter where you’re led, and how mad it drives you, you have to find your own way out. 

🩵🩵 Can you pass the 1989 TV Lyrics Quiz? 🩵🩵

Wonderland Song Meaning: Final Thoughts 

This song is a masterpiece of literary reference, and parallels Alice’s adventures so faithfully that we have to wonder if Taylor was reading this book as she was writing the song. 

Wonderland as the adventure of heartbreak is a masterful metaphor, and the allusions to “madness” and the Cheshire Cat layer this metaphor even more deeply. 

What’s most interesting about this song for me is that it sees Taylor start to layer her metaphors and symbolism even more deeply, which is watching her lyricism develop in real time. 

In later eras such as evermore and folklore, we’ll see the more intricate lyricism like she’s displaying here. But it’s also just a fun song to listen to, and resonates with anyone who has been driven mad by love. 

More Songs From 1989 (Taylor’s Version) 

• Welcome to New York
• Blank Space
• Style
• Out of the Woods
• All You Had to Do Was Stay
• Shake it Off
• I Wish You Would
• Bad Blood
• Wildest Dreams
• How You Get the Girl
• This Love
• I Know Places
• Clean
• You Are in Love
• New Romantics
• Slut! [From the Vault]
• Say Don’t Go [From the Vault]
• Now That We Don’t Talk [From the Vault]
• Suburban Legends [From the Vault]
• Is it Over Now? [From the Vault]