A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Keith Reid & Gary Brooker

(Procul Harem – music by Johann Sebastian Bach)

 

Thanks to John Ross for the tab of the intro.  Jari Riitala also has a version out there in G which he claims is closer to the original version.

 

Intro: (all notes in first position)

C        Am       F        Dm       G        Em  G7   C   F    G   F G7

--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|

--------|--------|------01|--------|0-----13|--------|--------|--------|

--------|--------|2-------|--------|0-------|0-0-----|--------|--------|

2-------|20---02-|3-------|323---0-|0-------|-3---323|320--023|--023230|

3-------|3-323--3|3-------|--------|--------|--------|---33---|23------|

3-------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|

 

INTRO:  [chords only]

C  Am  F  Dm  |  G  Em  G7  C  |  F  G  F  G7

 

C                       Am   F                                 Dm

We skipped the light fandango and turned cartwheels across the floor.

G                     Em  G7  C                            Am   Em

I was feeling kind of seasick, but the crowd called out for more.

F                    Dm    G                     Em   G7

The room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away

C                        Am    Em    F                     Dm

When we called out for another drink, the waiter brought a tray.

 

CHORUS:

G13       C6 CM7     Am  C   F                       Dm

And so it was---that later--- as the miller told his tale.

G                           Em      G7       C      F        C  G7  C

That her face at first just ghostly turned a whiter shade of pale.

 

C  Am  F  Dm  |  G  Em  G7  C  |  F  G  F  G7

 

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 well have been closed.

 

CHORUS: