i love this freaking song....
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1131
Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid wrote the words to this song. He told us: "It's sort of a film, really, trying to conjure up mood and tell a story. It's about a relationship. There's characters and there's a location, and there's a journey. You get the sound of the room and the feel of the room and the smell of the room. But certainly there's a journey going on, it's not a collection of lines just stuck together. It's got a thread running through it." Reid got the idea for the title when it came to him at a party, which gave him a starting point for the song. Says Reid: "I feel with songs that you're given a piece of the puzzle, the inspiration or whatever. In this case, I had that title, 'Whiter Shade of Pale,' and I thought, There's a song here. And it's making up the puzzle that fits the piece you've got. You fill out the picture, you find the rest of the picture that that piece fits into."
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1131
Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid wrote the words to this song. He told us: "It's sort of a film, really, trying to conjure up mood and tell a story. It's about a relationship. There's characters and there's a location, and there's a journey. You get the sound of the room and the feel of the room and the smell of the room. But certainly there's a journey going on, it's not a collection of lines just stuck together. It's got a thread running through it." Reid got the idea for the title when it came to him at a party, which gave him a starting point for the song. Says Reid: "I feel with songs that you're given a piece of the puzzle, the inspiration or whatever. In this case, I had that title, 'Whiter Shade of Pale,' and I thought, There's a song here. And it's making up the puzzle that fits the piece you've got. You fill out the picture, you find the rest of the picture that that piece fits into."
One mans interpatation.
The Song is about a Girl leaving her Boyfriend
She tells him she is leaving him so they both go out drinking and dancing. After they return to his apartment she tells him why she is leaving him ... and the details follow ...
We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor ...
Dancing
I was feeling kinda seasick ...
He has drunk so much the room appears to be swaying, and he feels sick
But the crowd called out for more ...
The Band is finishing at the end of the evening
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away ...
Indicates excessive Drink / Drugs
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray ...
The waiter is clearing up drinks, not bringing new ones because the Bar is closing
And so it was that later ...
Presumeably they have returned to his apartment
As the miller told his tale ...
Drunk and telling dirty stories (Reference: Chaucer)
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale ...
She had to get drunk so she could be brave enough to tell him why she is leaving him
She said: "There is no reason ...
There is no reason for her to leave him, because she still loves him
And the truth is plain to see." ...
SHE can see the truth about what happened in their relationship
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast ...
To me this indicated that she could see another future for herself, that didn't involve staying with him. My assumption was that this involved going away to college which was some sort of "perfect future" for her, hence the reference to the vestal virgins who would have been her comparatively "pure" Girlfriends from High School who could see a future for themselves that didn't rely on living with a Drunk
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well've been closed ... He had been completely Blind to this.
The Song is about a Girl leaving her Boyfriend
She tells him she is leaving him so they both go out drinking and dancing. After they return to his apartment she tells him why she is leaving him ... and the details follow ...
We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor ...
Dancing
I was feeling kinda seasick ...
He has drunk so much the room appears to be swaying, and he feels sick
But the crowd called out for more ...
The Band is finishing at the end of the evening
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away ...
Indicates excessive Drink / Drugs
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray ...
The waiter is clearing up drinks, not bringing new ones because the Bar is closing
And so it was that later ...
Presumeably they have returned to his apartment
As the miller told his tale ...
Drunk and telling dirty stories (Reference: Chaucer)
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale ...
She had to get drunk so she could be brave enough to tell him why she is leaving him
She said: "There is no reason ...
There is no reason for her to leave him, because she still loves him
And the truth is plain to see." ...
SHE can see the truth about what happened in their relationship
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast ...
To me this indicated that she could see another future for herself, that didn't involve staying with him. My assumption was that this involved going away to college which was some sort of "perfect future" for her, hence the reference to the vestal virgins who would have been her comparatively "pure" Girlfriends from High School who could see a future for themselves that didn't rely on living with a Drunk
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well've been closed ... He had been completely Blind to this.
more than 900 cover versions...
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart[1] on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. (Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well.)
With its haunting Bach-flavoured instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics—by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, and Keith Reid respectively--"A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 in several countries when released in 1967. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic. It was the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK (as of 2009),[2] and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognised it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.[3] Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" #57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
More than 900 recorded cover versions by other artists are known.[4] The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films, including The Big Chill, Purple Haze, Breaking the Waves, The Boat That Rocked and notably in Martin Scorsese's segment of New York Stories. Cover versions of the song have also been featured in many films, for example by King Curtis in Withnail and I and by Annie Lennox in The Net.
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart[1] on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. (Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well.)
With its haunting Bach-flavoured instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics—by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, and Keith Reid respectively--"A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 in several countries when released in 1967. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic. It was the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK (as of 2009),[2] and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognised it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.[3] Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" #57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
More than 900 recorded cover versions by other artists are known.[4] The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films, including The Big Chill, Purple Haze, Breaking the Waves, The Boat That Rocked and notably in Martin Scorsese's segment of New York Stories. Cover versions of the song have also been featured in many films, for example by King Curtis in Withnail and I and by Annie Lennox in The Net.
I saw Procol Harum live back in 1972. And they did a killer version of A Whiter Shade Of Pale. I actually taped that concert. And have it stored away somewhere on a cassette tape. Another great song in their arsenal was A Salty Dog. One of the best live bands that I've seen. The only one that tops it is Bruce Springsteen back in the early 80's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6BzNEZxbiw
Check out their drummer BJ Wilson. He was the best I ever saw live. He was an ex-drummer in the British military, which is why he holds the drumsticks inward. I've never seen any other drummer with that style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6BzNEZxbiw
Check out their drummer BJ Wilson. He was the best I ever saw live. He was an ex-drummer in the British military, which is why he holds the drumsticks inward. I've never seen any other drummer with that style.
Do yourself a favor and download this:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1uany9d6
If you have not used WinRAR yet, download here http://www.win-rar.com/index.php?id=970&dl=/rar/wrar393.exe&btn=1
Enjoy, Merry Christmas
+++ bonus tracks added including "Homburg", original vinyl only had first 11
And now, my favorite Non-Christmas Christmas song
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or this maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQwR1Ph35Jo
sing along if you know it
A Christmas Camel
My amazon six-triggered bride
now searching for a place to hide
still sees the truth quite easily
but shrouds all else in mystery
while madmen in top hats and tails
impale themselves on six-inch nails
and some Arabian also-ran
impersonates a watering can
Some Santa Claus-like face of note
entreats my ears to set afloat
my feeble sick and weary brain
and I am overcome with shame
and hide inside my overcoat
and hurriedly begin to quote
while some Arabian sheikh most grand
impersonates a hot-dog stand
The Red Cross ambulance outside
can only mean that I must hide
'til dusk and finally the night
when I will make a hasty flight
across the sea and far away
to where the weary exiles stay
and some Arabian oil-well
impersonates a padded cell
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1uany9d6
If you have not used WinRAR yet, download here http://www.win-rar.com/index.php?id=970&dl=/rar/wrar393.exe&btn=1
Enjoy, Merry Christmas
+++ bonus tracks added including "Homburg", original vinyl only had first 11
And now, my favorite Non-Christmas Christmas song
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQwR1Ph35Jo?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RQwR1Ph35Jo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
or this maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQwR1Ph35Jo
sing along if you know it
A Christmas Camel
now searching for a place to hide
still sees the truth quite easily
but shrouds all else in mystery
while madmen in top hats and tails
impale themselves on six-inch nails
and some Arabian also-ran
impersonates a watering can
Some Santa Claus-like face of note
entreats my ears to set afloat
my feeble sick and weary brain
and I am overcome with shame
and hide inside my overcoat
and hurriedly begin to quote
while some Arabian sheikh most grand
impersonates a hot-dog stand
The Red Cross ambulance outside
can only mean that I must hide
'til dusk and finally the night
when I will make a hasty flight
across the sea and far away
to where the weary exiles stay
and some Arabian oil-well
impersonates a padded cell
