A whiter shade of pale Procol Harum
(Keith Reid/Gary Brooker)
We skipped the light Fandango
Turned cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of 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 just as we'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 straight away 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
更浅的苍白阴影 普洛可哈伦合唱团
翻译者enthusiast的一些注释：
1. Fandango：盛行于西班牙、葡萄牙的民谣。典型的 Fandango 是由四段相同的旋律所组成。舞蹈是由男女一对，刚开始很慢，结尾速度加快，有时音乐会突然停止，舞者站的笔直，直到音乐再次响起。舞蹈充满热情与激情，男女舞伴利用各种舞步及手势来追逐挑逗彼此。
2. the miller 尽管 A Whiter Shade of Pale 的作词者 Keith Reid 说他这辈子从未读过「坎特伯里故事集( The Canterbury Tales )」，也否认这里的”the miller”和故事里的磨坊主人有任何关系，但若是了解磨坊主人说的故事后，就不难理解为何不少人喜欢把两者联想在一起。
「坎特伯里故事集」的作者为英国重要的诗人乔叟( Geoffrey Chaucer , 1342~1400)。一群要去坎特伯里朝圣的人，为了消磨时间于是约定每人在去的路上说两则故事，回来时也说两则，这群朝圣者包括各社会阶层的人，乔叟也包括在内。第一则故事由骑士开始，接着上场的便是磨坊主人的故事。在牛津有一位有钱人，以木匠为生，同时也收留寄膳借宿的客人，有一位穷大学生住在那儿，爱上了木匠刚娶的年轻妻子，俩人计划好欺骗木匠，以达到私通的目的，后来大学生的屁股被另一位少妇的追求者烫掉了一块肉，木匠则糊里胡涂地被骗走了妻子。
3. Vestal virgins Vesta 罗马神话里掌管炉灶的女神。为了不让灶神的火熄灭，罗马人在一群出身高贵的女孩中，精挑细选出数字来担负这任务，如果火熄灭，罗马将遭到恶运。这些被选出的少女自孩童时期就开始在灶神庙，总共要服务30年，她们立誓守贞，这样牺牲青春所得到的报酬是世人及罗马元老院对她们的尊崇和敬重。
4. Neptune 海神，希腊名为 Poseidon，地位仅次于宙斯。在与宙斯一同战胜了父亲克洛斯后，他负责掌管变化莫测的海洋，因此脾气也难捉摸，手持三叉戟，生气时掀起狂风巨浪，发动海啸，轻易粉碎任何船只。
5. mermaid 在荷马史诗 Odysseus 里将美人鱼描述为专门用美妙的歌声让船只撞礁，或是引诱年轻男子以保持自己灵魂不雕的危险不祥的生物，因此美人鱼在文学里，大部份是具有性的象征，例如 T. S. Eliot 的 名诗" The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock "第124行的 ' I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each '。另外相传美人鱼对水手而言也是不祥之物，看见她们必会发生船难。
6. ‘If music be the food of love’ 引自莎士比亚 “Twelfth Night” 第一幕的第一句：
“If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
