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- Newsgroups: rec.music.misc
- Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!lynx!nmsu.edu!opus!afoiani
- From: afoiani@nmsu.edu (Anthony Foiani)
- Subject: Re: Lyrics of unknown PROCOL HARUM song?
- In-Reply-To: phil@hpspdla.spd.HP.COM's message of Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:19:54 GMT
- Message-ID: <1992Dec24.043418.25209@nmsu.edu>
- Sender: usenet@nmsu.edu
- Organization: NMSU Computer Science
- References: <hm308ba.724925636@unidui> <11930107@hpspdla.spd.HP.COM>
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 04:34:18 GMT
- Lines: 69
-
-
- Seeing as I happen to be bored/procrastinating, and have that disc
- handy, I'll give my go at it. Pretty easy to transcribe, actually;
- very listenable, only one or two lines were questionable, although
- there are many opportunities for artistic synonyms (did he say
- "morning" or "mourning?"):
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- "In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence" (3.01), by Procol Harum
- (1968/1973), Track 11 on "Procol Harum: A&M Classics Volume 17"
- Transcribed on 23rd of December, 1992, by afoiani@nmsu.edu
-
- In the wee small hours of sixpence,
- and the lighted chandelier,
- Stands a rusty old retainer
- whose old eyes are filled with tears,
- For his master, good Sir Gallant
- who is now off to the wars.
- And although his eyes are crying
- we know grief is not the cause.
- And if grief is not the reason,
- he must be of sterner stuff.
- And his sword, though old and rusty,
- must be [blunt and] sharp enough.
-
- In the wee small hours of sixpence,
- and the broken window pane,
- Stand the remnents of the evening
- who are waiting all in vain
- For the crowing of the cockrel
- showing morning is not night.
- But the air is filled with silence,
- and the [day, bright,] is not night.
- But still darkness is no reason,
- we are men of sterner stuff
- And our swords, though old and rusty,
- still are [blunt and] sharp enough.
-
- In the wee small hours of sixpence,
- and the hat-stand in the hall
- Waiting, lonely for the morning
- shadows flitting across the wall.
- And perhaps that old retainer,
- [well, in the] giving of his all
- May have once been just as we are,
- and now has no face at all.
- But still, grief was not the reason
- he was made of sterner stuff
- And his sword, though old and rusty,
- still was [blunt and] sharp enough.
-
- <end>
-
- Passages in [brackets] are questionable. Please mail any corrections
- to "Tony Foiani <afoiani@nmsu.edu>" -- Thanks!
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- The line at the end of each stanza doesn't make much sense, but I
- wrote down what I heard. Further, the punctuation is erratic at best,
- and I would be interested in seeing the actual lyrics.
-
- This sort of thing is what I get for trying to transcribe lyrics that
- are at least 4 years older than me. *sigh*.
-
- Happy [Solstice|Chaunikah|Christmas|New-Year's Day|Leap-second],
- Tony
- --
- Tony Foiani a.k.a. Tkil (afoiani@nmsu.edu) or (tkil@acca.nmsu.edu)
- Supporting: Unix / DOS / VMS / Macintosh / "What's this?"
- Current favorite song: "Take To The Sky", Tori Amos, _Winter_ [CD5]
-