Video hit Procol Harum

Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Live at the Union Chapel)

British rock legends Procol Harum are captured here at their finest, in concert at London's Union Chapel.

It was the last night of a tour that had taken them from London through Europe, Japan and North America and back again to London and the band celebrated with a truly magical performance of the rarely heard full version of the immortal A Whiter Shade Of Pale.

A Whiter Shade of Pale is the debut single by the English rock band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The record reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks.

Without much promotion, it reached No. 5 on the US charts, as well.

One of the counterculture anthems of the 1967 Summer of Love, it is one of fewer than 30 singles to have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

With its haunting Bach-derived instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics—by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, and organist Matthew Fisher — "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached No. 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), 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.

Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" No. 57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1977, the song was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody") of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the Brit Awards.

In 1998 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9] More than 1000 recorded cover versions by other artists are known.

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 (in a sinking boat scene) 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.

The original writing credits were for Brooker and Reid only.

On 30 July 2009, Matthew Fisher won co-writing credit for the music in a unanimous ruling from the Law Lords.

About lyrics

Reid got the title and 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.

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.

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."

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.

Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.

Structurally and thematically, the song is unusual in many respects.

While the recorded version is 4:03 long, it is composed of only two verses, each with chorus. The piece is also more instrument-driven than most songs of the period, and with a much looser rhyme scheme. Its unusually allusive and referential lyrics are much more complex than most lyrics of the time (for example, the chorus focuses on Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale"). Thus, this piece can be considered an early example of progressive rock.

The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries. As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song.

It has also been heavily paraphrased, in forms like an Xer shade of Y, to the extent that it has been recognised as a snowclone – a type of cliché and phrasal template.

Over time, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has earned extensive critical acclaim:

John Lennon was a great fan of the song and was known to have played it repeatedly in his Rolls Royce. When it was released in England, Lennon (and friends in his circle) reportedly confused Brooker's soulful vocals with Steve Winwood, who had popularity at the time with The Spencer Davis Group.

It was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also uses the word "fandango") of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT Awards, part of Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee.

In 1998 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

No. 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.

British TV station Channel 4 placed the song at No. 19 in its chart of the 100 greatest number one singles.

The lyrics:

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

And 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 they would not let her be

One of sixteen vestal virgins

Who were leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open wide

They might have just as well been closed

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, "I'm here on a shore leave,"

Though we were miles at sea.

I pointed out this detail

And forced her to agree,

Saying, "You must be the mermaid

Who took King Neptune for a ride."

And she smiled at me so sweetly

That my anger straightway died.

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

If music be the food of love

Then laughter is it's 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

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