A WHiTER SHADE OF PALECredits e links
HOMBURG
LiME STREET BLUES
CONQUiSTADOR
A SALTY DOG
QUiTE RiGHTLY SO
SONG FOR A DREAMER
TOUJOURS L'AMOUR
BEYOND THE PALE
PANDORA'S BOX
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.
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.
Lime Street in the afternoon
everybody crazy as a coon
I'm running round in my underpants
trying to find some kinda romance
Quarter past three [sic] on Lime Street
I got whipped right offa my feet
Didn't realize that I'd been caught
till I found myself in the County Court
'Mr Judge,' I said, 'Won't you please be kind
Have pity on me, a poor orphan child?'
Mr Judge he says with a long mean frown
'Orphan or not, you're going down!'
Well I screamed on my knees in the witness box,
'Lord have mercy on my golden locks.'
The judge I could see that he was snide
He says, 'The only kind of blonde you are's a peroxide!'
Oh Lime Street, Lime Street
Lime Street, that's where we meet.
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.
'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.
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.
I will meet you on the other side of the moon
The doctors say they must operate soon
But there's no knowing what they'll find when they open up the wound
I will meet you on the other side of the moon
I will meet you at the bottom of the sea
We will lie inside the ocean and scheme
Our friend the Arab will guide us while we dream
I will meet you at the bottom of the sea.
She took all the pleasure and none of the pain
All of the credit and none of the blame
I came home to an empty flat
She'd left me a note and taken the cat
The cord that they knotted to keep us apart
Could never be broken: it was tied to my heart
She grew thin and I grew fat
She left me and that was that
I'm thinking of renting a villa in France
A French girl has offered to give me a chance
Or maybe I'll take an excursion to Spain
And buy a revolver and blow out my brains.
Who will search for Holy Grail
Past the edge beyond the veil
Who will come beyond the light
Far from reach beyond all sight
Who will share this bitter cup
let the wild dogs tear them up
let the cold winds blow them down
drive them deep beneath the ground
Who will live in darkest night
Dankest gloom and quietest quiet
Buried deep beneath the ground
Far from any human sound
Who will search for treasure trove
Scour the seas and scale the globe
Past the peaks beyond the heights
Farmost reaches furthest sights
Who will share this bitter cup
let the wild dogs tear them up
let the cold winds blow them down
drive them deep beneath the ground.
While horsemen ride across the green
and Snow White still remains unseen.
Pegasus, the winged horse,
relays his messages by Morse.
And like some pirate sailor
We crossed the Spanish Main
And brought our magic carpet
to a marble staircased plain.
While Handel plays his melody
Doctors cause uncertainty
And though I know the lifeguard's brave
There is no one for him to save.
And like some pirate sailor
We crossed the Spanish Main
And brought our magic carpet
to a marble staircased plain.
Cock Robin views his frozen feet
and wraps them in a winding sheet
and calls out for his favourite drink
the Persian that's as warm as mink.
And like some pirate sailor
We crossed the Spanish Main
And brought our magic carpet
to a marble staircased plain.