"A Whiter Shade of Pale" as written by and Gary Brooker Keith Reid....
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
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
And so it was that later
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
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
And so it was that later
Lyrics submitted by Psycho_pr, edited by Mellow_Harsher, CrimsonApostle
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" as written by Keith Reid Gary Brooker
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
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READ people, only like 3 people who I bet READ before commenting got it right.
Its about getting Drunk and trying to and finally successfully getting in the PANTS of a Girl.
Nothing to do with Acid or Coke or Holocaust or any of that.
Also the writer of the song SPECIFICALLY says that the Millers Tale line has NOTHING to do with Canterbury Tales...
"Although, Reid reveals, the reference to Chaucer is a red herring. 'One thing people always get wrong is that line about the Miller's Tale. I've never read Chaucer in my life. They're right off the track there.' "
"And yet the verse is essential to an understanding of the song.(The one that was dropped as has been quoted in the comments Daciples Edit) We at last learn that the drunken seduction is consummated, and the sea metaphor reaches its apotheosis in the oblivion and forgetfulness of sex, with a neat pun thrown in as a punch-line."
READ people, use your brain the freaking writer of the song out right tells you what its about, trying to get laid while drunk, except done in a vague reference over hauntingly great melody.
Great Song, no in depth meaning tho....
Still, today, we get drunk in a variety of ways and this political cycle we have here in America, well, it's such an illusion, yeah? Everyone is drunk on something, anger, fear, obsurdity of it all, leaving us a bit homogenized and well, a whiter shade of pale. They say, "green ain't mean..."
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 -- this to the extent that it has been recognized as a snowclone — a type of cliché and phrasal template.
"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."
What that means, I'm not entirely sure. One additional quote from SongFacts:
The lyrics, "As the miller told his tale" sounds like a reference to "The Miller's Tale," from Chaucer's English novel The Canterbury Tales. This tale is well known to English students as a vulgar or bawdy story, told by the miller. Given this, the line, "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" is an attempt by a young man, who has just caused a girl to turn pale by telling some vulgar story, to explain away her signs of disgust as due to other things. Such as the dancing, the drinking. Reid, however, disproves this theory. He said: "I'd never read The Miller's Tale in my life. Maybe that's something that I knew subconsciously, but it certainly wasn't a conscious idea for me to quote from Chaucer, no way."
The Miller's Tale By Chaucer.. a paraphrasing..
It's the story told by a Miller making fun of carpenters. Keep in mind he is VERY drunk when he tells his tale. The carpenter has a young wife and has two young students renting a room with him. They both adore his wife. One day one of the students seduces the wife. They have sex. (while the carpenter is away on a job)The other student sings, and tries to seduce the wife but he fails. Longing for more than a quickie the student and the wife (who apparently enjoys the company of the student) decide to trick the carpenter so that they can have more sex. They create a lie. They tell him that another biblical flood is coming and get him to build tubs on the roof of the building for them to ride out the storm in. The student sneaks down with the wife. They have sex in the carpenter's bed.Now for the punch line if you will of the story. Thinking the carpenter is away the other student tries to seduce her by singing again.. he looks in the window and tells her he wants to kiss her. The wife, sticks her ass out the window, which the student kisses. When he realizes this he gets mad and goes to a blacksmith and grabs a hot piece of metal. He returns, the student decides to be the next one to stick his ass out the window. The second student burns his ass with the hot metal, which causes the student to scream. The carpenter hears this and falls out of the tub off the roof and onto the ground, and breaks his arm. That's how the story ends. (this is a paraphrasing of the story, I don't remember it all.. It's all written by Chaucer, so I am not intending to steal his story.. )
SO, back to the song, now that I bored everyone. The song is basically talking about making a fool of yourself in front of someone you want to have sex with or already are (which could lead to a break up)
The beginning part of the song is describing how they are dancing, drinking and having a good time..
The second part is after he has made a fool of him self.
And she said " there is no reason, the truth is plain to see"
So obviously she was embarrassed by his drunkeness (if you say they were together then this causes them to break up, but I personally think they weren't together at the start of the party..)
Then later when he is alone he's playing with his cards, and hoping that the lady wasn't a nun. This might be the source of the confusion and embarrassment.. IE the guy is drunk and hits on a nun.. So there is my take.. He should have realized she was a nun, but he was too drunk to realize.. so he was as embarrassed as the Miller after he was done telling his tale.. Moral of the story.. DON'T get drunk and hit on nuns.
(BTW as an aside Gary Booker heard someone at a party say.. "She turned a whiter shade of pale" which was partially inspiration for this song.. you can find out more about it by looking it up on Wikipedia. (same thing for the Millers Tale)
And the rest is where your head go's on psychedelics. Seemingly profound stuff that make's infinite sense until the next day.
It still sounds pretty so why not leave it.
Here is my interpretation:
We skipped a light fandango,
(Unsure about this line)
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor.
(It was reported that children were doing cartwheels across the "deck" during the day light hours and adults were afraid that they would fall overboard)
I was feeling kind of seasick,
(Just as it says)
But the crowd called out for more.
(The Titanic hit the iceberg on April 14, 1912 at approximately 11:00 pm ship's time and sank at approximately 2:20 am on the 15th of April. The passengers knew their fate and that they were going to die. To take their minds off of their pending deaths, they played cards, got drunk, or just listened to music).
The room was humming harder,
(The Titanic's crew keep the lights on and the light bulbs back then made noises when the lit)
As the ceiling flew away.
(There was a glass and steel dome over the "Grand Ballroom" on the Titanic. The Titanic was sinking bow first and when the water got over the dome, it could not support the extra weight.)
When we called out for another drink,
The waiter brought a tray.
(The waiters knew they were going to die too, so they gave out all of liquor.)
And so it was that later,
(The Titanic hit the iceberg at 11:40 pm and sank at 2:20 am)
As the miller told his tale,
(I believe that the correct line is "As the Mayor told his tale". He was just trying to divert attention from his pending death).
That her face at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.
(What color does your face turn if you KNOW you are going to die? A whiter shade of pale!!!)
She said there is no reason,
(The correct line is "HE said there is no reason. The ship owner Joseph Ismay kept telling passengers that the ship was unsinkable)
And the truth is plain to see
(Despite that fact that Ismay kept telling passengers that the Titanic was unsinkable, the truth was plain to see)
That I wandered through my playing cards,
And would not let her be
(Maybe by some miracle, the boat would STOP sinking)
One of sixteen vestal virgins
(Correct line - "One of sixteen vessel virgins" There were 16 new ships making their first voyages in 1912)
Who were leaving for the coast.
(Coast of United States from Europe)
And although my eyes were open,
They might just as well have been closed.
(The narrator could see that the ship is sinking but did not want to believe it)
And so it was later,
As the miller told his tale,
That her face at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.
And a fandango is a dance, which goes along with "cartwheels cross the floor."
I have no absolute theory about the meaning of the song but it might actually be about someone sinking, but in some kind of drug trip or alcohol party... ?
a time tunnel traveler ? lol
of them, some songs just had "catchy lyrics" to a great sound track, nothing more
nothing less. I knew a few roadies back then who worked with some of the
top groups. some of the stories they told me were mind blowing.