This song is a metaphor for a loss of identity in an industrialized world of business travel, hotels, and punctuality. These guys were literate songwriters who knew how to express themselves in images. These days, writing is so much "on the nose", and many people have not heard, or learned to appreciate the obliqueness in pushing a metaphor for a higher level of expression, and total exploration of experience and meaning.
In the late 60's I should have been about 12 or 13 years old, in the height of the phenomenal Beatles when I heard this song, Homburg and this sensational Procol Harum group for the first time in my life. And I assure you, my friends, I was never the same again, for I was struck by lightning. Many people may find the lyrics of this song strange, but I say that it is as enigmatic as it is marvelous. It was certainly the Beatles from Lennon & McCartney and Procol Harum from Gary Brooker and "Homburg" who taught me how to love great English rock for the rest of my life ... Paul Pecchio, Campo Belo Neighborhood, São Paulo, Brazil.
I woke up at 3 a.m. and felt an inexplicable need to listen to this song. So I sneaked downstairs, put on the headphones, and played it a few times before going back to bed. This was in 1974 and I was 17 years old.
How wonderful to read your comment Mr Vittachi. You might have been writing about me all those years ago. Except that in my case it would have been 1967-68. See my own comment above
I understand you perfectly, my friend, I understand you perfectly! It's no different with me. It's just a matter of PASSION, simple like this ... And this has happened to me since the late 60's and even today. I'm 68 and I'm hoping to go crazy like this until the last second of my life ... Simple like that! Paul Pecchio, Campo Belo district, São Paulo, Brazil.
Magic, pure magic ! This song "HOMBURG", the highest point of the great English group PROCOL HARUM of the sixties played on single mono, original disc, is devastating ! One of the most mystical and intriguing lyrics among the beautiful songs of this unforgettable group. Incredible, more current than ever. I was a short-sleeved kid when I first heard, I still did not have a "multilingual business friend" and did not use "overcoat too long", but this song never came out of my head more than half a century later. Thank you Gary Brooker, thank you Procol Harum, you are part of the gallery of the myths of good music of all time ... Forever in my heart ! Paul Pecchio, from S. Paulo, Brazil.
Although I relish many and various aspects of their musical arsenal, Gary Brooker’s arrangements are what I find most enjoyable and intriguing about my favorite band’s music!
I have not heard this song for over 50 years. It never got enough airplay here in Australia. Brilliant piece of music . But it's nice to know that I can play it now as many times as I like on RUclips. I bought their Live in Edmonton Album back in '72 in a little town called Swan Hill. Still got it in pristine condition, and still play it even now. Great band not appreciated enough.
A quite extraordinary piece of music which still casts a spell over me 50 years after I first heard it. I entirely agree with those who describe it as poetry. To me it will always be mysterious, hallucinatory, magical, melancholic and surreal. I can completely identify with Mr Vittachi who felt he had to listen to it at 3am when he was 17. That is exactly the kind of impact it has had on me, and there have been many occasions when I felt I just had to listen to it as soon as possible, returning home specially to do just that on more than one occasion when 7" vinyl singles ruled music and portable music players did not exist. Many thanks for posting.
Gracias por tan gratos recuerdos, privilegiado, yo tuve la oportunidad de estar en el concierto de este súper grupazo en el auditorio nacional en el año de 1975, ....toda una experiencia, la única canción que conocía de ellos era la de una pálida sombra , gracias a una de mis hermanas pude asistir a este concierto... gracias por compartir tan excelente grupo, aún lo sigo escuchando....!!!
I do believe that dispite their large following P H were grossly underrated. I think all their music is brilliant, this is just one gem amongst so many.
One of my favorite PH songs! Excellent words (poetry) that lends itself to many different and personal interpretations. That is what poetry and art were meant to do.
Thank you. GARY BROOKER and The PROCOL HARUM For a GREAT song HOMBURG after A WHITER SHADE OF PALE. In the NAM era. When I was A soldier at that time. ❤️😊🇺🇸👍🇬🇧
Yeah, I associate both these songs with the Vietnam era also...Edit: thank you for your service to our country; In a war we should never have been involved with. A very sad time for the American people and our nation.
This truly is an Art band as the effort they put into it will never be appreciated. A member of the band was a lyricist. The members of the band are all up front with both a legitimate piano player and organist playing, not in the background, but dueling with each other quite expertly. The other players in the band have to work making room for this to be possible. Once again, not too many people are into music enough that they are ever going to appreciate this. Great work guys.
So nice song for me. So as when For the first time, i've been heard this song, that's when i was still in the primary school at the little town not so far from city of palembang in southern sumatra island.
Isabel Archer decisamente meglio i Procol. Anche senza luce dei Dik Dik e' inferiore all'originale a whiter shade of pale sempre dei Procol. Ultimamente zucchero ha fatto la cover di a salty dog (nel cosi' blu). Testo orribile. Sempre meglio i Procol che amo da sempre. Auguroni per un felice 2019 e viva la bella musica! Io non ne potrei fare a meno.....😍
Your multilingual business friend Has packed her bags and fled Leaving only ash-filled ashtrays And the lipstick, 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 'Cause your overcoat is too long Town clock in the market square Stands waiting for the hour When its hands they both turn backward And on meeting will devour Both themselves and also any fool Who dares to tell the time And the sun and moon will shadow And the signpost cease to sign Your trouser cuffs are dirty And your shoes are laced up wrong You'd better take off your Homburg 'Cause your overcoat is too long Your trouser cuffs are dirty And your shoes are laced up wrong You'd better take off your Homburg 'Cause your overcoat is too long Oh, your trouser cuffs are dirty And your shoes are laced up wrong You'd better take off your Homburg 'Cause your overcoat is too long Your trouser cuffs are dirty..
" Town clock in the market square stands waiting for the hour when its hands they both turns backward. And on meeting will devour both themselves and also any fool who dares to tell the time..." ,remind me instantly of Salvador Dali's surrealism painting ,The Persistence of Memory and disappearing grinning Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland, both at the same time.
What's this song mean? Listen to it again but this time keep in mind how screwed up the business world is. That will get ya in the right direction, did for me, anyway. It is deep.
"Well, my son, what do you wish to know?" So the pilgrim said, "I wish to know the meaning of life, father." And the Dalai Lama smiled and said, "Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"
@modrockersparks ahh your too young....back in the 70's there was a green army coat called a homburg,like a first world war coat, it was verry long dark green......in fact id love to get one.
As long as I've been a rock fan, which is almost half a century, I've never really bothered with what a song means, or any message. Lots of other ways one can get messages or meanings. I listen to music FOR music. Vocals to me are mostly ancillary to the instrumentation. Don't know how many times I said "Oh, that's a drug song? No kidding?"
Cosa è stato quel 1967 ? pazzesco constatare che nel 2023, scorrendo la classifica dei 45 giri più venduti in quell'anno, si trovano così tanti capolavori ancora oggi conosciuti e suonati
They don't write such music any more with "interesting" lyrics and calm melody with "acid" influenced...all you get today is crap/rap or wannabe artists who can't carry a tune if it was even in a wheelbarrow...
This song is a metaphor for a loss of identity in an industrialized world of business travel, hotels, and punctuality. These guys were literate songwriter's who knew how to express themselves in images. These days, writing is so much "on the nose", and many people have not heard, or learned to appreciate the obliqueness in pushing a metaphor for a higher level of expression, and total exploration of experience and meaning.
This song is a metaphor for a loss of identity in an industrialized world of business travel, hotels, and punctuality. These guys were literate songwriters who knew how to express themselves in images. These days, writing is so much "on the nose", and many people have not heard, or learned to appreciate the obliqueness in pushing a metaphor for a higher level of expression, and total exploration of experience and meaning.
Thank you for explaining that to me I've often wondered what the lyrics were about. Now you've enlighten me. Thank you. Great song great band!
May Lord have you in His glory, great Gary
thank you for your Art.
One of the most beautiful voice ever ....
In the late 60's I should have been about 12 or 13 years old, in the height of the phenomenal Beatles when I heard this song, Homburg and this sensational Procol Harum group for the first time in my life. And I assure you, my friends, I was never the same again, for I was struck by lightning. Many people may find the lyrics of this song strange, but I say that it is as enigmatic as it is marvelous. It was certainly the Beatles from Lennon & McCartney and Procol Harum from Gary Brooker and "Homburg" who taught me how to love great English rock for the rest of my life ...
Paul Pecchio, Campo Belo Neighborhood, São Paulo, Brazil.
Paul Pecchio a salty dog, a whiter shade of pale, repent walpurgis (fortuna). Tutti capolavori. Viva i Procol Harum! Auguroni di un buon 2019! 🤩🤩🤩
I woke up at 3 a.m. and felt an inexplicable need to listen to this song. So I sneaked downstairs, put on the headphones, and played it a few times before going back to bed.
This was in 1974 and I was 17 years old.
How wonderful to read your comment Mr Vittachi. You might have been writing about me all those years ago. Except that in my case it would have been 1967-68.
See my own comment above
L
I understand you perfectly, my friend, I understand you perfectly! It's no different with me. It's just a matter of PASSION, simple like this ...
And this has happened to me since the late 60's and even today. I'm 68 and I'm hoping to go crazy like this until the last second of my life ... Simple like that!
Paul Pecchio, Campo Belo district, São Paulo, Brazil.
INGENIOUS SONG, I LOVE IT, WONDERFUL PROCOL HARUM!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!!! from Italy
A haunting melody, a hidden gem, an old favourite
Haunting, that’s the word😭
Magic, pure magic !
This song "HOMBURG", the highest point of the great English group PROCOL HARUM of the sixties played on single mono, original disc, is devastating !
One of the most mystical and intriguing lyrics among the beautiful songs of this unforgettable group. Incredible, more current than ever. I was a short-sleeved kid when I first heard, I still did not have a "multilingual business friend" and did not use "overcoat too long", but this song never came out of my head more than half a century later.
Thank you Gary Brooker, thank you Procol Harum, you are part of the gallery of the myths of good music of all time ...
Forever in my heart !
Paul Pecchio, from S. Paulo, Brazil.
Although I relish many and various aspects of their musical arsenal, Gary Brooker’s arrangements are what I find most enjoyable and intriguing about my favorite band’s music!
And thank you to Keith Reid, who wrote many poems/songs for Procol Harum.
I have not heard this song for over 50 years. It never got enough airplay here in Australia. Brilliant piece of music . But it's nice to know that I can play it now as many times as I like on RUclips. I bought their Live in Edmonton Album back in '72 in a little town called Swan Hill. Still got it in pristine condition, and still play it even now. Great band not appreciated enough.
A quite extraordinary piece of music which still casts a spell over me 50 years after I first heard it. I entirely agree with those who describe it as poetry. To me it will always be mysterious, hallucinatory, magical, melancholic and surreal. I can completely identify with Mr Vittachi who felt he had to listen to it at 3am when he was 17. That is exactly the kind of impact it has had on me, and there have been many occasions when I felt I just had to listen to it as soon as possible, returning home specially to do just that on more than one occasion when 7" vinyl singles ruled music and portable music players did not exist.
Many thanks for posting.
Gracias por tan gratos recuerdos, privilegiado, yo tuve la oportunidad de estar en el concierto de este súper grupazo en el auditorio nacional en el año de 1975, ....toda una experiencia, la única canción que conocía de ellos era la de una pálida sombra , gracias a una de mis hermanas pude asistir a este concierto... gracias por compartir tan excelente grupo, aún lo sigo escuchando....!!!
There is no poetry in music like this anymore!!
Truth
Uno dei capolavori dei grandi Procol Harum! 🙄😍
I do believe that dispite their large following P H were grossly underrated. I think all their music is brilliant, this is just one gem amongst so many.
Wow , que recuerdos ! ... sólo tenía 17 años .
One of my favorite PH songs! Excellent words (poetry) that lends itself to many different and personal interpretations. That is what poetry and art were meant to do.
Well said sir. I agree entirely
I bless the day I discovered Procol Harum not so long ago...I stumbled onto a treasure trove.
The best band ever besides the Beatles and the Kinks........... goose bumps.
שיר ניפלא 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
Great music!
I'm 66 in last Dec. 2020 ... and I still like to sing this song (karaoke 🎤) 😁😁😁
They could do a lot with just the five of them and no overblown orchestrations. That's why I liked the early PH so much.
Io sto ascoltando questa canzone perché devo imparare con la batteria. Semplicemente MERAVIGLIOSA!
still moving to hear this.........
Thank you. GARY BROOKER and The PROCOL HARUM For a GREAT song HOMBURG after A WHITER SHADE OF PALE. In the NAM era. When I was A soldier at that time. ❤️😊🇺🇸👍🇬🇧
Yeah, I associate both these songs with the Vietnam era also...Edit: thank you for your service to our country; In a war we should never have been involved with. A very sad time for the American people and our nation.
Khanh Le a salty dog e' un altro capolavoro!
This and whiter shade of pale ...great musical poetry
This truly is an Art band as the effort they put into it will never be appreciated. A member of the band was a lyricist. The members of the band are all up front with both a legitimate piano player and organist playing, not in the background, but dueling with each other quite expertly. The other players in the band have to work making room for this to be possible. Once again, not too many people are into music enough that they are ever going to appreciate this. Great work guys.
This gem was definitely deleted by 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and it's a bloody shame that I've just discovered it. Shame on me.
gorgeous!
Gak bosen dengerinnya, walau sambil bernostalgia era th 70an
so lovely song, the Slow Dancing with butifuly girls Ever
So nice song for me. So as when For the first time, i've been heard this song, that's when i was still in the primary school at the little town not so far from city of palembang in southern sumatra island.
👍👍🎩🎩💓💓💕 toujours trop bon à écouter
This track seems to portray the mystery of the "Isdal Woman" so well.
I tried to understand the lyrics but unsuccessfully. But it's the most beautiful song in the world.
We don't have to understand the poetry - we can simply relish in how the words and music makes us feel.
RIP, Gary Brooker.
Just CLASSIC!!
Bellissimi ricordi
Beautiful
IT'S INSPIRABLE SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Una bella melodia che conosciamo grazie alla splendida cover dei Camaleonti, L'Ora dell'Amore
+Isabel Archer Buonissima versione dei Camaleonti
già un'orrenda storia d'amore che non ha niente a che vedere con il nonsense dell'originale!
Si ma il testo italiano è risibile.
Isabel Archer decisamente meglio i Procol. Anche senza luce dei Dik Dik e' inferiore all'originale a whiter shade of pale sempre dei Procol. Ultimamente zucchero ha fatto la cover di a salty dog (nel cosi' blu). Testo orribile. Sempre meglio i Procol che amo da sempre. Auguroni per un felice 2019 e viva la bella musica! Io non ne potrei fare a meno.....😍
Awesome lyrics. Like another their songs, " a whiter shade of pale "...
Your multilingual business friend
Has packed her bags and fled
Leaving only ash-filled ashtrays
And the lipstick, 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
'Cause your overcoat is too long
Town clock in the market square
Stands waiting for the hour
When its hands they both turn backward
And on meeting will devour
Both themselves and also any fool
Who dares to tell the time
And the sun and moon will shadow
And the signpost cease to sign
Your trouser cuffs are dirty
And your shoes are laced up wrong
You'd better take off your Homburg
'Cause your overcoat is too long
Your trouser cuffs are dirty
And your shoes are laced up wrong
You'd better take off your Homburg
'Cause your overcoat is too long
Oh, your trouser cuffs are dirty
And your shoes are laced up wrong
You'd better take off your Homburg
'Cause your overcoat is too long
Your trouser cuffs are dirty..
Thank you
Lyrics written by Keith Reid.
nice upload
Tightest band ever.
Клево!!
Love the pedal bass at the beginning of the verse...and the drums...was it Bobby Eyden who also played on Whiter Shade Of Pale...sounds like it....
With later overdubs by BJ Wilson
Ga bosen dengerin nya ,walau sambil nangis
Padahal bukan lagu cinta
A post-Modern rendition of missing someone. His world is
falling apart.
R.I.P gary brooker 😪😪😪
" Town clock in the market square stands waiting for the hour when its hands they both turns backward.
And on meeting will devour both themselves and also any fool who dares to tell the time..."
,remind me instantly of Salvador Dali's surrealism painting ,The Persistence of Memory and disappearing grinning Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland, both at the same time.
Muy buenoooo!!!!!
😂great band miss them😢
なぜ、こんな曲が作れるんだろう。プロコル･ハルムは不思議なバンドです。
What's this song mean? Listen to it again but this time keep in mind how screwed up the business world is. That will get ya in the right direction, did for me, anyway. It is deep.
"Well, my son, what do you wish to know?"
So the pilgrim said,
"I wish to know the meaning of life, father."
And the Dalai Lama smiled and said,
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"
@modrockersparks ahh your too young....back in the 70's there was a green army coat called a homburg,like a first world war coat, it was verry long dark green......in fact id love to get one.
@MrCrispian Homburg is a hat dude. And to snuff out any disagreement on your part just do a google search.
fine
I don't understand the song's means but it's beautiful
But does it tell you who it is who beckons from the waxing and waning light?
Reminds me of a much loved girlfriend who thought she was better than me, I admit she was very clever.
As long as I've been a rock fan, which is almost half a century, I've never really bothered with what a song means, or any message. Lots of other ways one can get messages or meanings. I listen to music FOR music. Vocals to me are mostly ancillary to the instrumentation. Don't know how many times I said "Oh, that's a drug song? No kidding?"
Poetry put to music...or music with a narrative....or just two art forms that share space... in this case, mindblowing .
I feel the same way but would take me half an hour to type all that
@@fredsanford3958 that's nothing. I need an additional half hour to correct all the typos before I do post! :-D
Cosa è stato quel 1967 ? pazzesco constatare che nel 2023, scorrendo la classifica dei 45 giri più venduti in quell'anno, si trovano così tanti capolavori ancora oggi conosciuti e suonati
my CD version of this has duration of 3:56 but this is 3:40? still glad to hear it on here even if something is missing
PH was able to really make usage of guitar keys and drums...just PH music...elegant rock not quite progressive 🫠
@Dantr51 I very much doubt it! But like with "Whiter Shade of Pale' , who cares? It's still all good imo.
purtroppo tradotta in una stupida storia d'amore.....è l'ora dell'amore...
They don't write such music any more with "interesting" lyrics and calm melody with "acid" influenced...all you get today is crap/rap or wannabe artists who can't carry a tune if it was even in a wheelbarrow...
LOL! "wheelbarrow"
I'm with MaceMn on this....
Hmmmm, it's how I feel about the planet.
@d1sailer Excelent comment
Doesn't matter what it's about,not in 67,born just too late
Testo della canzone Protocol harum
oh shit
in italiano è diversa
si è diventata una stupida canzone d'amore....meglio il nonsen,se dell'originale
The music is too epic for the lyrics.
And not in the HOF Travesty
sounds like "Only Women Bleed" by Alice Cooper
Trev Mac only women bleed sounds like procol harum!!
part of it also sounds like Brain Damage from Dark Side of the Moon
Dat vond ik goeie muziek!Fuck!
+Sjaak Kazenbroot Blunkt swardik naar tomt!
This song is a metaphor for a loss of identity in an industrialized world of business travel, hotels, and punctuality. These guys were literate songwriter's who knew how to express themselves in images. These days, writing is so much "on the nose", and many people have not heard, or learned to appreciate the obliqueness in pushing a metaphor for a higher level of expression, and total exploration of experience and meaning.
Right on brother.
Thank you for explaining that to me I've often wondered exactly what the lyrics was trying to say. Great song great band. Thank you!