![]() Note: Ships were often referred to by feminine names such as "Her", "Lady" and/or "She". Titanic (April 15, 1912) and the band that played on the deck of doomed ship. My InterpretationThis song is about the sinking of the R.M.S. 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. ![]() As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song. ![]() The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries. Thus, this piece can be considered an early example of progressive rock. 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"). The piece is also more instrument-driven than most songs of the period, and with a much looser rhyme scheme. While the recorded version is 4:03 long, it is composed of only two verses, each with chorus. Structurally and thematically, the song is unusual in many respects. Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship. 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. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth. ![]() The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. 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. Song MeaningReid got the title and starting point for the song at a party. ![]()
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