whiter shade of pale
歌手 Sarah Brightman 莎拉布萊曼
詞曲 Booker, Gary/Keith Reid
曲風 Adult Contemporary/Prog-Rock/Art Rock
We skipped the light Fandango
我們略過輕快的方當果舞曲
Turned cartwheels across the floor
側手翻觔斗穿越舞池
I was feeling kind of seasick
我感覺好似暈船
But the crowd called out for more
但大夥吆喝著要我再來
The room was humming harder
屋內已越來越吵雜
As the ceiling flew away
天花板彷彿被掀離
When we called out for another drink
當我們叫了另一盅酒時
The waiter brought a tray
侍者卻端來了一個托盤
And so it was that later
那麼就在那時
As the miller told his tale
當磨坊主人說起他的故事
That her face, at first just ghostly
她的臉龐 起初僅似朦朦朧朧
Turned a whiter shade of pale
然後卻轉成更淺的蒼白淺影
She said there is no reason
她說不為什麼理由
And the truth is plain to see
真相如此顯而易見
But I wandered through my playing cards
但我漫不經心在紙牌間
And would not let her be
不允許她成為
One of sixteen vestal virgins
爐火女神16名侍女中的一名
Who were leaving for the coast
她們即將離開前往海濱
And although my eyes were open
雖然我睜開了雙眼
They might just as well've been closed
他們卻彷彿是閉著的
She said "I'm home on shore leave"
她說 我正離開海邊回家
Though in truth we were at sea
雖然事實上我們還在海上
So I took her by the looking glass
我給她一面鏡子
And forced her to agree
強迫使她同意
Saying, "You must be the mermaid
說著 妳一定是條美人魚
Who took Neptune for a ride
騎著海神的海馬
But she smiled at me so sadly
但她只是悲傷地對著我微笑
That my anger straight away died
我的憤怒瞬間消失
If music be the food of love
如果音樂是愛情食糧
Then laughter is its queen
笑語便是王后
And likewise if behind is in front
同樣地 如果過去能重現
Then dirt in truth is clean
那土壤也會是乾淨的
My mouth by then like cardboard
我的嘴巴頓時像片紙板
Seemed to slip straight through my head
似乎直接地從我頭袋竄出
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
我們立刻快速地俯衝
And attacked the ocean bed
直到撞擊海床
這是一首很有意境的歌曲，但摸不太清楚歌曲中所暗藏的涵義，例如歌曲中的Miller就有2種解釋。一種解釋為磨坊主此出於Chaucer 的[坎特伯里故事集]裡一篇故事，故事是說一段不倫之戀，一位年輕美麗的磨坊主人的妻子和他們的大學生房客有染的故事。另一種解釋為Miller米勒，為Arthur Miller [Death of a Salesman]。而最後2段歌詞是原唱Procol Harum演唱會版本中的，有人認為最後代表他們自殺了，象徵一段畸戀的結束。
此曲在1967年發行，也被翻唱過無數，也可稱的上是華麗的古典搖滾的代表作品。而2000年跨界女神莎拉布萊曼則重新翻唱這首作品，將原本的搖滾味剔除，裝飾上電音以及管絃樂，不過後來引起批評無數，很多樂評認為莎拉布萊曼用電子樂來詮釋這首經典搖滾樂非常不妥。但說實話，我還蠻喜歡莎拉布萊曼的版本，因為在電子樂的營造下此曲充滿了神秘感及幻境，在加上弦樂營造的空間感，畢竟我還聽過一種說法，曾有人說此曲是作曲者自已嗑藥之後產生的幻象，那其實跟原曲比較起來，莎拉的版本就比較符合這種虛幻感囉，反觀原作就古樸多了。
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