A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum

A wonderful melody and harmony inspired by J.S. Bach, a great arrangement with that Hammond organ and a crazy, cryptic lyric, A Whiter Shade of Pale is one of those songs that outlives it's generation. In 2009 it was the most played song in public places in the UK, and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognized it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.

I have a small personal connection to Procul Harum outside of the fact that I like this song. I was fortunate enough to study conducting with Lawrence Leonard at the Morley College in London. I discovered by chance that Lawrence was Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1968-1973) and that he also conducted the Edmonton Symphony in a 1971 concert featuring Procol Harum, which was recorded and released commercially as Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, was released in 1972; it was recorded at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 18 November 1971. It is the band's best selling album, certified Gold by the RIAA.

It's a small world and I never knew that somebody who was so important to me was involved with a group that was culturally important to many people. Whenever I hear A Whiter Shade of Pale, I think of Lawrence Leonard. If he were here, I think he would approve.

The Portal of Healing.




We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, there is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well have been closed
She said, Im home on shore leave,
Though in truth we were at sea
So I took her by the looking glass
And forced her to agree
Saying, you must be the mermaid
Who took neptune for a ride.
But she smiled at me so sadly
That my anger straightway died

If music be the food of love
Then laughter is its queen
And likewise if behind is in front
Then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
Seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
And attacked the ocean bed