Белее белого была

    (из Прокол Харум)       

Мы крутили с ней фанданго,
пол ходил то вверх, то вниз,
и меня слегка мутило,
а нас просили всё на "бис". 
Становился гул сильнее,
уходил мир из–под ног,
мы налить ещё просили
и нёс официант поднос.

И тогда позднее мельник
людям сказку рассказал,
что она, как призрак, белая, 
белее белого была.

Мне сказала: "Нету смысла,
ложь будет разоблачена."
А я, весь захвачен картами,
не хотел, чтобы она
стала той одной из девственниц —
тех, что к берегу ушли.
Карты я как ни рассматривал,
глаза уж видеть не могли.
 
И тогда позднее мельник
людям сказку рассказал,
что она, как призрак, белая, 
белее белого была.

Мне сказала: "Я на берег,
хочу у моря погулять..." —
перед зеркалом вертелась —
"...чтоб с Нептуном поиграть."
"Ты, наверное, русалка —
чтоб тебя надул он враз."
Она грустно улыбнулась,
сразу мой сарказм погас.

И тогда позднее мельник
людям сказку рассказал,
что она, как призрак, белая, 
белее белого была.

Там где музыка —  любовь
и где смех —  там королева,
и всё равно: вперёд-назад,
направо иль налево.
Скулы мне свело мгновенно,
и башку мою снесло,
тотчас с нею мы нырнули
и отправились на дно.
 
И тогда позднее мельник
людям сказку рассказал,
что она, как призрак, белая,
белее белого была.

            ------




a whiter shade of pale
 by procol harum



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



A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well. It is one of the fewer than 30 all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.

With its haunting Bach-flavoured instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics—by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, and Keith Reid -- "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 in several countries when released in 1967. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic. It was the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK (as of 2009), and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognised it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years. Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" #57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

More than 900 recorded cover versions by other artists are known. The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films, including The Big Chill, Purple Haze, Breaking the Waves, The Boat That Rocked and notably in Martin Scorsese's segment of New York Stories. Cover versions of the song have also been featured in many films, for example by King Curtis in Withnail and I and by Annie Lennox in The Net.

The original writing credits were for Brooker and Reid only. On 30 July 2009, Matthew Fisher won co-writing credit for the music in a unanimous ruling from the Law LordsReid got the title and the starting point for the song at a party. 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. The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth. 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. Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.

The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries. As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song. 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 cliche; and phrasal template.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYBqv3NIqho&feature=related