Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale, live in Denmark

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/pale1.html ^

[navysealdad]

Procol Harum performing A Whiter Shade of Pale with the Danish National Concert Orchestra and choir at Ledreborg Castle, Denmark. The song explores what it means to be wrecked, in more than one sense of the word.

[Slump Tester]

Dang pop up ruined it. Wouldn't go away.

(And I never get pop-ups!)

[Squawk 8888]

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[corkoman]

Impressive how Gary Brookers voice seems to remain strong.

Such a perfectly typical European setting with a large orchestra etc. Throw Robin Trower out there with some power chords and get things moving.

[wideminded]

The song explores what it means to be wrecked, in more than one sense of the word.

Whiter Shade of Pale is a very striking and memorable tune but did anybody really follow the words or their meaning?

[left that other site]

One of my all time favorites

Wish they would stop doing jihad in Nigeria though.

Oh...that’s a DIFFERENT group.

Never Mind. :-)

[zeugma]

Bfl

[BobL]

I liked them until they started kidnapping girls in Nigeria.

[bigbob]

Hammond M-102 spinet with a 105 Leslie...NOT a B-3 as is commonly thought

[nothingnew]

Thanks navysealdad. I've loved that song for so long and I knew it would be a classic years ago.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Brother Cracker]

Band name

In April 1967, Brooker began working as a singer-songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts Keith Reid (poet), Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights.[4] Guy Stevens, their original manager, named the band after a friend’s Burmese cat.[5] The cat’s Cat Fancy name was Procul Harun, Procul being the breeder’s prefix.[6]

In the absence of a definitive origin, the name attracted various interpretations,[7] being said to be Latin for “beyond these things” (but the correct Latin translation of “beyond these things” is Procul His[8]), or translated as “of these far off things”, the genitive plural harum perhaps agreeing with an understood rerum, “things”.[9] The name of the band is frequently misspelt; often with Procul, Harem, both, or other variations.

[freedomtrail]

It’s a good song but it’s a song about nothing.

[Second Amendment First]

Went to a hippie wedding back in the early ‘70’s that for some reason was held in a Baptist church. The organist struggled to get through this song, while the minister peeked out of the door at the strange people assembled there.

[ZOOKER]

...did anybody really follow the words or their meaning?

I heard that the lyrics were inspired by something called "The Miller's Tale". It has to do with the young bride who cheats on her older husband (you can look it up on Wikipedia).

The song lyrics are kinda confused, but the original tale it references didn't make much sense either...

[ChildOfThe60s]

I am in the minority. This is one of my lesser liked of their tunes.

More to my liking:

Conquistador
Shine on Brightly
Simple Sister
In the Wee Small Hours of Sixpence

[Verginius Rufus]

Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales includes "The Miller's Tale."

I've been told the name Procol Harum is Latin, but if so the name is misspelled. Procul means "at a distance" or "far from," while harum is the feminine genitive plural of hic, "this," but procul would be used with the ablative, not the genitive. So it could be interpreted as "at a distance from these (women)" but it would be ungrammatical Latin.

[capt. norm]

The tune playing in the background is by Bach "Sleeper Awakens" as classical music aficionados will tell you.

[TennTuxedo]

This version is the “Holy Grail” of this song.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I always thought the lyrics were drug-induced nonsense. Love the music, though.