Who sang 'Whiter shade of pale'? i was watching a war film about Vietnam, and this song touched me emotionally

Question

the film was about the Austrailians fighting in Vietnam, Nicole Kidman is in it...

thanks guys, i will go hunt it down now, thanks again

Answer 1

The song "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was released in 1967 by the band Procol Harum. With its haunting tonality and Bach flavouring, both provided by Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, soulful vocals by Gary Brooker and mysterious lyrics by Keith Reid,

A huge number of artists have covered the song, e.g., to name just a few: Jimmy Castor Bunch (who made an instrumental, more jazz-like arrangement), another instrumental version by pianist David Lanz, with Fisher on Hammond organ, a pop rendition by Annie Lennox, Joe Cocker's soul arrangement, Percy Sledge's R&B,and a reggae version by the Wailing Souls.

~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
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

She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,'
though in truth we were at sea
so I took her by the looking glass
and forced her to agree
saying, 'You must be the mermaid
who took Neptune for a ride.'
But she smiled at me so sadly
that my anger straightway died

If music be the food of love
then laughter is its 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

Answer 2

Procol Harum (with Robin Trower on guitar) did the original maybe around 1967. (By the way, the melody is taken from a classical composition by Bach I think). But some people did a cover remake in the mid 80s, I think.. I think Journeys Neal Schon was the guitarist but I forget the singer. It wasn't Journey!

Answer 3

Procol Harum

Answer 4

Procol Harum

Answer 5

I remember 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' from 1967 when we had the Summer of Love. It was a great time and, somehow, everyone seemed to be happy. Remember Sergeant Pepper? The song, much to my chagrin as an avid Beatles fan, was chosen as the record of the year in 1967 with it's haunting melody and mysterious words. What most people don't realise though is that originally there was an extra verse to open the song, which was dropped by the record company as they thought it conained poor lyrics and it would also have made the song too long as the record companies in those days insisted on records being no more than three minutes long so that more would get played on juke boxes. There were odd exceptions allowed, such as the Beatles Hey Jude, but they were so big nobody argued. Here is the missing verse:-

If music be the food of love
And laughter is its queen
And likewise if behind's in front
Then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
Seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crashed dived straight way quickly
And attacked the ocean bed

It's no wonder this verse was dropped when you see the lyrics, but it does add to the story of the song, much of it nonsensical with words added simply to form a rhyme. The song is, essentially, about a gang of friends getting progressivly drunk in a bar. The line 'Whiter shade of pale' was first uttered by a member of the band at a party where he saw a drunken girl's face going paler just before she was sick. The song was written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid and it was Keith who overheard the line saying later that he wished it was he who had said it. He always said that people read more into the song than was really there, for example tghe reference to the miller telling his tale. As Keith said, he'd never read Chaucer in his life, but the words seemed to fit. Similarly he wasn't awarte of the role of the Vestal Virgins in ancient Rome whose task was to keep a sacred flame burning to appease the gods and nothing to do with sex. However he was aware that with the free sex available to groups in those days it was important to ensure that the girl was aged 16 or more, the legal age for sexual consent.

Gray Brooker said that although the musical lines were compared to Bach's melody in 'Air on a G String' there was no connection as he had never heard it. It's just complimentary notes on the chord progression.

The song is nothing to do with war, either for or against it, although at the time the song was released the war in Vietnam was at it's height.

Procul Harem had another hit with a similar sounding song 'Homburg' before fading into obscurity. They were never able to produce another song as good as 'Whiter Shade of Pale' and as this was their debut single anything after it was unable to match it.

Answer 6

Whiter shade of pale was sung by Procol Harum in the sixties.

Answer 7

Hi
Another film worth watching with this song is The Committments when one of them sings "you skip the light fantastic!"

(Procul Harum)

Answer 8

It was sang by a group called Procol Harem

Answer 9

Annie lennox , Joe Cocker , Procul Harum

hope that helps

Eo

Answer 10

procol harman sang it in the 60's. great song nice to listen to when you need to chill out for a while

Answer 11

its a 60's song sang by procol harum.