Procul Harum
The Best Of

01   A Whiter Shade of Pale (03:59)

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
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
Would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might 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

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale

02   Quite Rightly So (03:35)

For you (whose eyes were opened wide
whilst mine refused to see)
I'm sore in need of saving grace.
Be kind and humour me
I'm lost amidst a sea of wheat
where people speak but seldom meet
And grief and laughter, strange but true
Although they die, they seldom cry

An ode by any other name
I know might read more sweet
Perhaps the sun will never shine
upon my field of wheat
But still in closing, let me say
for those too sick, too sick to see
though nothing shows,
yes, someone knows
I wish that one was me

03   Conquistador (02:41)

Conquistador your stallion stands
in need of company
and like some angel's haloed brow
you reek of purity
I see your armour-plated breast
has long since lost its sheen
and in your death mask face
there are no signs which can be seen

And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind

Conquistador a vulture sits
upon your silver shield
and in your rusty scabbard now
the sand has taken seed
and though your jewel-encrusted blade
has not been plundered still
the sea has washed across your face
and taken of its fill

And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind

Conquistador there is no time
I must pay my respect
and though I came to jeer at you
I leave now with regret
and as the gloom begins to fall
I see there is no, only all
and though you came with sword held high
you did not conquer, only die

And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind

04   All This and More (03:35)

05   Wreck of the Hesperus (03:46)

(Fisher / Reid)

We'll hoist a hand, becalmed upon a troubled sea
'make haste to your funeral,' cries the valkyrie
We'll hoist a hand or drown amidst this stormy sea
'here lies a coffin,' cries the cemetery, it calls to me
And all for nothing quite in vain was hope forever tossed
No thoughts explained, no moments gained, all hope forever lost
One moment's space, one moment's final fall from grace
Burnt by fire, blind in sight, lost in ire

We'll hoist a hand, becalmed upon a troubled sea
I fear a mighty wave is threatening me
We'll hoist a hand, or drown amidst this stormy sea
'come follow after,' cry the humble, 'you will surely see ...'
But still for nothing quite in vain was hope forever tossed
No moments gained, no thoughts explained, all hope forever lost
One moment's space, one moment's final fall from grace
Burnt by fire, blind in sight, lost in ire

06   Too Much Between Us (03:39)

There's you, you're sleeping over there
whilst me I'm sitting here
with so much sea between us
I can't make it much more clear
There'll be no time for crying
We won't make it more than six
I could change my plea to guilty
but I don't think it would stick
Still those other ratings far too easy to despise
You've said so much in silence now I truly am disguised

Let him who fears his heart alone
stand up and make a speech
For him perhaps an emperor's throne
if he could only speak
Far too few and far to follow
For shame I'll heed the cry
Be with me when I need a drink
be with me when I die
Still those other ratings far too easy to despise
You've said so much in silence now indeed I am disguised

07   She Wandered Through the Garden Fence (03:28)

She wandered through the garden fence
and said, 'I've brought at great expense
a potion guaranteed to bring
relief from all your suffering.'
And though I said, 'You don't exist,'
she grasped me firmly by the wrist
and threw me down upon my back
and strapped me to her torture rack

And, without further argument
I found my mind was also bent
upon a course so devious
it only made my torment worse

She said, 'I see you cannot speak
is it your voice that is too weak?
Is it your tongue that is to blame?
Maybe you cannot speak for shame.
Or has your brain been idle too,
and now it will not think for you?'
I hastened to make my reply
but found that I could only lie

And like a fool I believed myself
and thought I was somebody else
But she could see what I was then
and left me on my own again

08   Salad Days (Are Here Again) (03:40)

(Brooker / Reid)

You come to me at midnight and say, 'It's dark in here.'
You know you robbed me of my sight, and light is what I fear
I tell you that I can not see but you persist in showing me
those bangles that I paid for long ago




And though my face is smiling I'm really feeling low
and though you say you're with me I know that it's not so
Your skin crawls up an octave, your teeth have lost their gleam
The peaches snuggle closer down into the clotted cream
and for some unknown reason my watch begins to chime
and though I beg and plead with you, you tell me it's not time




And though my face is smiling I'm really feeling low
and though you say you're with me I know that it's not so
The sun seeps through the window to see if we're still dead
to try to throw some light upon the gloom around our bed
At quarter past the doorbell rings, the water faucet drips and sings
and still my reason will not rhyme, and still you tell me it's not time




And though my face is smiling I'm really feeling low
and though you say you're with me I know that it's not so
You really know that it's not so

09   Homburg (03:45)

Your multilingual business friend
has packed her bags and fled
Leaving only ash-filled ashtrays
and the lipsticked unmade bed
The mirror on reflection
has climbed back upon the wall
for the floor she found descended
and the ceiling was too tall

Your trouser cuffs are dirty
and your shoes are laced up wrong
you'd better take off your homburg
'cos your overcoat is too long

The town clock in the market square
stands waiting for the hour
when its hands they both turn backwards
and on meeting will devour
both themselves and also any fool
who dares to tell the time
And the sun and moon will shatter
and the signposts cease to sign

10   A Salty Dog (04:37)

'All hands on deck, we've run afloat!' I heard the captain cry
'Explore the ship, replace the cook: let no one leave alive!'
Across the straits, around the Horn: how far can sailors fly?
A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive

We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die
No lofty peak, nor fortress bold, could match our captain's eye
Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call
A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all

We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seaman's log: your witness my own hand

11   Kaleidoscope (02:56)

Jostle, hassle, elbow bustle
in a swirling rainbow tussle
Caught and frozen, broken sheen
now unites for one brief scene

Lonely in the dark I grope
the key's in my kaleidoscope

Confused faces change their places
take up stances, exchange glances
Lost in multicoloured hues
there is no whole which I can choose

Lonely in the dark I grope
the key's in my kaleidoscope

In one face, one moment's fusion
realize the new illusion
Clutching fingers break the puzzle
jostle, hassle, elbow bustle

Still out in the dark I grope
the key's in my kaleidoscope

12   The Milk of Human Kindness (03:38)

(Brooker / Reid)

When you knew that I had given all the kindness that I had
did you think that it might be time to stop?
When you knew that I was through
that I'd done all I could do
did you really have to milk the final drop?
Not content with my mistake
you behaved just like a snake
and you left me for a wasp without a sting
Tell all my friends back home
that I did it on my own
and that to their well-worn cares they should cling

When you knew that I had given all the kindness that I had
did you feel you had to break that lonely vow?
When you knew that I was through
that I'd done all I could do
did you really have to sow that final plough?
Not content with my mistake, you behaved just like a snake
and you left me for a wasp without a sting
Tell all the folks back home that he did it on his own
and that to their well-worn cares they should cling

13   Good Captain Clack (01:32)

Still scowling black
good Captain Clack
must eat his humble pie
His bed is made
the colours fade
his eyes once wet are dry

The naked muse
who sits and chews
tobacco off a tree
removes his shoes
gives way to booze
and searches endlessly

See the naked jumberlack
sip his aphrodisiac
Cotton-picking farmers three
Though I lost my weather vane
and of sense I have one grain
I'm content sipping lemon tea

14   The Devil Came from Kansas (04:36)

(Brooker / Reid)

The Devil came from Kansas. Where he went to I can't say
Though I teach I'm not a preacher, and I aim to stay that way
There's a monkey riding on my back, been there for some time
He says he knows me very well but he's no friend of mine

I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese
The Devil came from Kansas. Where he went to I can't say
If you really are my brother then you'd better start to pray
for the sins of those departed and the ones about to go
There's a dark cloud just above us, don't tell me 'cos I know

I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese
No I never came from Kansas, don't forget to thank the cook
Which reminds me of my duty: I was lost and now I look
for the turning and the signpost and the road which takes you down
to that pool inside the forest in whose waters I shall drown

I am not a humble pilgrim
there's no need to scrape and squeeze
and don't beg for silver paper
when I'm trying to sell you cheese

15   Boredom (04:04)

Some say they will and some say they won't
Some say they do and some say they don't
Some say they shall and some say they shan't
and some say they can and some say they can't

All in all it's all the same
but call me if there's any change

Some say there's nothing and some say there's lots
Some say they've started while some say they've stopped
Some say they're going and some say they've been
Yes, some say they're looking and some say they've seen

All in all it's all the same
but call me if there's any change

16   Crucifiction Lane (04:46)

You'd better listen anybody,
'cos I'm gonna make it clear
That my life is unimportant;
What I've done I did through fear
There's a river running through me:
On its tide I tried to hide
Nonetheless I could not shake it,
And in the end it swept aside
All my feeble unimportance.
I can't say it, never mind
Can't you hear me mother calling you?
I'm cold, I'm deaf, I'm blind
And if only 'cos you're lucky,
We both know that's no find
I did think I'd be an actor.
What I am I'll leave behind

You'd better listen anybody,
'cos it's me and you --that's it
And in case you find your maker
Perhaps you'll plead for us a bit
All my sick is in my stomach,
All my sweat is clearly fear
And if you could see inside me
I don't think you'd have me here
Tell the helmsman veer to starboard,
Bring this ship around to port
And if the sea was not so salty
I could sink instead of walk
And in case of passing strangers
Who are standing where I fell
Tell the truth: you never knew me,
And in truth it's just as well