Wonderland (Natalia Kills song)
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"Wonderland" is a song by English recording artist
Natalia Kills Natalia Noemi "Teddy" Sinclair (née Cappuccini; born 15 August 1986), is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She has recorded music under various aliases, most famously as Natalia Kills and Verbalicious. She is currently the lead vocali ...
from her debut studio album, '' Perfectionist'' (2011). Written by Kills, Michael Warren and "The-Ron" Feemster, and produced by Feemster, the song was released digitally in the United States and Europe as the album's second
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
on 12 April 2011. It was featured in the 2011 romantic fantasy film ''
Beastly ''Beastly'' is a 2007 novel by Alex Flinn. It is a retelling of the fairytale ''Beauty and the Beast'' set in modern-day New York City from the view of the beast. Flinn researched many versions of the ''Beauty and the Beast'' story to write her ...
''.


Composition and lyrics

Allmusic described "Wonderland" as a shimmering synth pop number, comparing its sound to songs from
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
's ''
The Fame Monster ''The Fame Monster'' is a reissue of American singer Lady Gaga's debut studio album, ''The Fame'' (2008), and was released on November 18, 2009, through Interscope Records. Initially planned solely as a deluxe edition reissue of ''The Fame'', ...
'' (2009) album. Kills on the message behind "Wonderland": It's the first track on the album, I really wanted to reject the ideologies of perfection and fairytales that we're conditioned to aspire to from a young age. If you believe in the 'happy ending' and count roses while you wait for a prince to save you it's only going to lead to extreme disappointment and pain when you get your heart broken and realize life is not always like that. A review of the song, described the song: The lyrics seem to be very ambivalent about fairy tales both wanting to be taken to "wonderland" and then confessing that "I don’t believe in fairy tales." There’s an acknowledgement all through the song that life, like fairy tales is both beautiful and dangerous. There seems to be an understanding that the way society thinks about "fairytale relationships" is fake and worthless and real honest relationships are worth much more.


Critical reception

Consequence of ''The Sound'' picked Wonderland as one of the standout tracks, saying: "Wonderland" denotes the pop perfection Kills was aiming for, complete with whimsical and fun lyrics ("Who needs true love/As long as you love me truly?", "Will you wake me up boy/If I bite your poison apple?") and a catchy, original chorus. Digital Spy also selected the song as one of the best songs on the album, saying: 'Wonderland' is a fantasist's plea for the perfect ending, laced with theatrical choir sections and fairytale references. ''
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'' described the song as: "moodily marvellous Wonderland, showed a strong, slightly menacing sense of self"


Chart performance

"Wonderland" was released as the second single in Europe and the USA. The song reached a peak at number 55 in Austria and remained in the charts for 2 weeks. In Germany the song peaked at number 45 and stayed in the charts for 1 week.


Music video

The
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the song was made available on
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on 6 April 2011. The video starts with Kills being dragged by soldiers up the stairs of a mansion. This section of the video is intercut with images of armed police fighting with masked men. She then is forced to sit at a dining table with other women whose faces are half-covered with masks. She is served a cooked heart while the other women eat cupcakes with pills on them instead of sprinkles. They are watched by soldiers who stand on the floor above them. She then climbs up onto the table causing the soldiers to run down to her and grab her off the table. It then cuts to outside of the mansion where two soldiers are escorting Kills down the steps where her head is forced down and an executioner beheads her with an axe. Throughout the video Kills is shown singing the lyrics while leaning on a closed door. The video is intercut with text such as "Love is Pain", "Danger", "Lies" and the lyrics of the song. There are two versions of the video; a censored edit and the uncensored original cut. Peter Robinson in the ''Guardian'' noted her appearances on a BBC sitcom ''The Archers'' and commented "Bizarrely she has now been taken under the wing of Will.i.am and rebranded as a sort of post-Gaga LA pop noir princess. It's all a bit silly and she can't carry the role very well but the broody electro songs – even when they sound a bit dated – are top stuff."


Track listings

*US digital download #"Wonderland" – 3:31 *German CD single #"Wonderland" – 3:31 #"Wonderland" (Release Yourself Club Remix) – 6:13 *German digital remix EP #"Wonderland" (Release Yourself Club Remix) – 6:13 #"Wonderland" (
Ladytron Ladytron are a largely British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and Reuben Wu (synthesize ...
Remix) – 3:27 #"Wonderland" (We Have Band Remix) – 4:22 #"Wonderland" (video) – 4:02


Personnel

* Natalia Kills –
vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
* "The-Ron" Feemster
producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
,
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...
,
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
* Robert Horn –
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
, guitar * Zach Kasik – engineer * Rrlytox – mixing


Charts


Release history


References

{{Natalia Kills 2010 songs 2011 singles Interscope Records singles Music based on Alice in Wonderland Natalia Kills songs Song recordings produced by Theron Feemster Songs based on fairy tales Songs written by Natalia Keery-Fisher Songs written by Theron Feemster