A Whiter Shade Of Pale

A Whiter Shade Of Pale, a photo by namida - on Flickr.

What is the meaning of the song A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procul Harum.!!?.

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters :

Many have speculation about the meaning of the song. Some of these are:
The sinking of the Titanic
Drug use/overdose (cocaine = whiter shade of pale)
Canterbury tales (miller told his tale)
A card game(?)
A one-night-stand

I think you may have hit on it with the meaningful nonsense that was a great song.
Source(s):
songmeanings.net


It is descriptive - it tells the story of what someone felt and experienced while on a drug trip. It doen't necessarily mean anything, it just is an unusual and interesting account of how the world sometimes can look...
------
The first verse describes feeling disoriented and disconnected, probably from drugs. Assume that they are on an LSD trip... We danced on light beams, and turned cartwheels across the floor, I wss feeling seasick, but the crowd called out for more...

As the miller told his tale... - a reference to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, in which The Miller's Tale is a crude bawdy story about 2 men seducing a 3rd man's wife.

The waiter's face was ghostly, and then seemed to become even more white...

She said there is no reason (for any of this), and the truth is plain to see (there is no reason).

But I wandered through my playing cards - perhaps a reference to Alice in Wonderland (Jefferson Airplane's & Grace Slick's "White Rabbit" was a big hit at this time...) Perhaps a reference to tarot cards, and a vision of the future with the waiter?...

although my eyes were open, they might just as well have been closed... I was really sensible to what was going on around me, I was kind of off in my own world...

Source : michael b
-----
Procol Harum Original Video :



Annie Lennox version ( my favorite so far...) :


The Lyric :
"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

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