This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Tonight we sleep on silken sheets
We drink fine wine and eat rare meats
On Carousel and gambling stake
Our fortunes speed, and dissipate
It's candlelight and chandelier
It's silver plate and crystal clear
The nights we stay at Hotel Grand
Tonight we dine at Hotel Ritz
(A golden dish with every wish )
It's mirrored walls, and velvet drapes
Dry champagne, and bursting grapes
Dover sole, and Oeufs Mornay
Profiteroles and Peach Flambe
The waiters dance on fingertips
The nights we dine at Hotel Ritz
One more toast to greet the morn
The wine and dine have danced till dawn
Where's my Continental Bride?
We'll Continental slip and slide
Early morning pinch and bite -
(These French girls always like to fight)
It's serenade and Sarabande
The nights we stay at Hotel Grand
Les nuits qu'on passe à l'Hotel Grande
We drink fine wine and eat rare meats
On Carousel and gambling stake
Our fortunes speed, and dissipate
It's candlelight and chandelier
It's silver plate and crystal clear
The nights we stay at Hotel Grand
Tonight we dine at Hotel Ritz
(A golden dish with every wish )
It's mirrored walls, and velvet drapes
Dry champagne, and bursting grapes
Dover sole, and Oeufs Mornay
Profiteroles and Peach Flambe
The waiters dance on fingertips
The nights we dine at Hotel Ritz
One more toast to greet the morn
The wine and dine have danced till dawn
Where's my Continental Bride?
We'll Continental slip and slide
Early morning pinch and bite -
(These French girls always like to fight)
It's serenade and Sarabande
The nights we stay at Hotel Grand
Les nuits qu'on passe à l'Hotel Grande
Lyrics submitted by planetearth
Grand Hotel Lyrics as written by Keith Reid Gary Brooker
Lyrics © Royalty Network
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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First! But really, this is about a man taking his wife/mistress out to the Ritz, and judging by the tone, he did something he wasn't supposed to, hence the fancy restaurant.
I always loved this song. I have my own interpretation. I interpret the man planning the perfect date, preparing everything to perfection. In his voice, he seems to be singing toward the past, as if he was thinking "I did everything right. What went wrong?" This to me, is expressed in Gary Brooker's singing and voice. It's a mixture of celebration but regret. Perhaps regret from what the date did, what he did, or how he handled a situation not mentioned directly in the lyrics.
What gives me this opinion is the sound of the music and orchestra, especially the part in the middle. I always used this song to lament, if I was hurt or feeling insecure. This piece reflects great beauty, but also hints of insecurity and self doubt. "The Early morning pinch and bite, these French girls always like to fight....Where's my continental bride? If it weren't for the brilliant, genious music to accompany these notions, I may have a different interpretation. But the sound in coherence with the lyrics I believe, makes Procol Harum extraordinary and a true mark of genious. I first fell in love with this song when I was 17, after my first heartbreak. I blamed myself; that was 27 years ago. The song comforted me and I still use the song to comfort me today in similar situations.