What “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum is Really About

Music Video of the Week, 29 Dec 2025

Lyristoric - TRANSCEND Media Service

Released as their debut record on 12 May 1967, A Whiter Shade of Pale is a legendary song by the British rock band Procol Harum. The single reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for six weeks. One of the anthems of the 1967 Summer of Love, A Whiter Shade of Pale is one of the most successful singles of all time, having sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, and being recorded over 1,000 times by other artists. Although the music was written by vocalist/pianist Gary Brooker and organist Matthew Fisher, the lyrics were written by band associate Keith Reid. A poet in his own right, Reid’s verses are both illustrative and ambiguous and many have debated the song’s meaning. Today, we crack that code!

Lyrics

We skipped the light fandango
Turned some cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick

When the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
And the ceiling flew away

When I called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray

And so it was later
When the miller told this 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”
That I wandered through my playing cards

And could not let her be, no
One of 16 vestal virgins
Who was leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open
They might just as well have been closed

And so it was later
When the miller told this tale
He said that her face at first just ghostly
And then turned a whiter shade of pale

And so it was later
When the miller told this tale
He said that her face at first just ghostly
Then turned a whiter shade of pale

Oh, just a whiter shade of pale
Then turned a whiter shade of pale

_________________

Source: Musixmatch

Whiter Shade of Pale lyrics © Onward Music/essex Retentions C/o Bucks Music, Onwards Music Ltd.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 29 Dec 2025.

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