Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Whiter Shade of Pale
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've been closed
She said, 'I'm 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
"Reid got the title and the starting point for the song at a party. He overheard someone at the party saying to a woman, "You've turned a whiter shade of pale," and the phrase stuck in his mind.[6][7] The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth.[8] The author of Procol Harum: beyond the pale, Claes Johansen, suggests that the song "deals in metaphorical form with a male/female relationship which after some negotiation ends in a sexual act."[7] This is supported by Tim de Lisle in Lives of the Great Songs, who remarks that the lyrics concern a drunken seduction, which is described through references to sex as a form of travel, usually nautical, using mythical and literary journeys.[9] Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.[6]
The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries.[10][11][12] As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song. (See [13] for many annotated examples complete with links to original sources.) It has also been heavily paraphrased, in forms like an Xer shade of Y--this to the extent that it has been recognised[14][15] as a snowclone - a type of cliché and phrasal template."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Whiter_Shade_of_Pale
http://www.awsop-versions.com/indicea.htm
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1131
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've been closed
She said, 'I'm 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
"Reid got the title and the starting point for the song at a party. He overheard someone at the party saying to a woman, "You've turned a whiter shade of pale," and the phrase stuck in his mind.[6][7] The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth.[8] The author of Procol Harum: beyond the pale, Claes Johansen, suggests that the song "deals in metaphorical form with a male/female relationship which after some negotiation ends in a sexual act."[7] This is supported by Tim de Lisle in Lives of the Great Songs, who remarks that the lyrics concern a drunken seduction, which is described through references to sex as a form of travel, usually nautical, using mythical and literary journeys.[9] Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.[6]
The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries.[10][11][12] As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song. (See [13] for many annotated examples complete with links to original sources.) It has also been heavily paraphrased, in forms like an Xer shade of Y--this to the extent that it has been recognised[14][15] as a snowclone - a type of cliché and phrasal template."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Whiter_Shade_of_Pale
http://www.awsop-versions.com/indicea.htm
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1131
Sunday, February 6, 2011
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