Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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'... a school trip many moons ago ...'

Dave Ball, for BtP


Procol Harum's Dave Ball sent in this admirable gloss on the famous song, prompted by strong feelings raised by another such interpretation

We skipped the light fandango

We danced a fandango

turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

Rather energetically

I was feeling kinda seasick

I shouldn’t have had that last drink

but the crowd called out for more

But the crowd were egging us on

The room was humming harder

The smell was getting bad from all the fandango-ing bodies

as the ceiling flew away

As my head hit the floor

When we called out for another drink

Ah go on – gimme just one more shooter

the waiter brought a tray

But the waiter hit me with his tray

And so it was that later

When I woke up next morning

as the miller told his tale

And my mate told me what I had done

that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale

and my girlfriend was worse than me

She said, 'There is no reason, and the truth is plain to see.'

I’m not an alcoholic she insisted

But I wandered through my playing cards

But I was busy playing solitaire

and would not let her be one of sixteen vestal virgins who were leaving for the coast

Reminded us of a school trip many moons ago

and although my eyes were open

And although my eyes were open

they might have just as well've been closed

There wasn’t anyone at home ……

The place to discuss this view of the famous song is The Beanstalk
 


More 'meanings' of AWSoP

 

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