The countdown of what I consider to be the best 25 songs of all time continues and with it, some news. My readership of my blog, “Hitting The Wall” is pretty healthy and continues to grow. For this I am thankful. This is my ‘fun’ blog. “The Losing Side” just simply ran out of gas. After six years post gastric bypass I had run out of things to say. Making it clear I am always available to answer questions or serve as support for anyone thinking about or going through weight loss surgery, I went ahead and archived that blog. I will be doing the same with this blog after I announce the Number One song and the following post I will list some honorable mentions with a “Goodbye” post and archive this blog. I simply want to put all my eggs in one basket, want to devote all my attention to just one blog and occasionally should I see fit to talk ‘off topic’ about something I feel strong about, I will post an “Off The Wall” post and do just that. So for now, let the countdown resume.
The fifth best song ever was on the soundtrack to one of my all time favorite movies, “The Big Chill”. This song is timeless. If you are over thirty five years old, chances are you too consider it to be one of the best songs of all time. Like “Stairway To Heaven”, this song is proclaimed by critics to be one of the best songs of all time. Unlike Led Zeppelin, however, the band that made the recording, Procol Harum, did not rise to quite the same fame as Led Zeppelin, although Procol Harum was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. 
Before you ask, I loved this song long before the lyrics, “That at first her face just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale.” Opening with a haunting organ solo (reminding me of “The Rolling Stones” song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”), I would label this song as mood music. This type of music transports me to a time and place I cannot quite capture into words. It comforts yet haunts me at the same time. It just makes me feel a feeling that is without description. It has a feel all of its own. “Stairway To Heaven” is also mood music, though this song, even more. My pick for the number 2 best song (coming up), even more! 
In my book, this song has never lost its standing. It has remained in my all time favorite top five position now for nearly thirty years! This song is a song that nearly anyone over the age of thirty to thirty five will recognize … at least in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, etc. I picked the cheesy original video for a few reasons. Though so cheesy you could top a crate of Ritz Crackers, there are some good views of London, especially what appears to be Piccadilly Circus in London. I laughed because the drug store Boots has not change their sign in all these years! I myself was a small child when they made that oh-so-cheesy video…. yellow with age, and there stood Boots with the same sign. The traffic, just as bad, the city just as crowded and I was so excited because even if I never return (and the chances are low because with my health issues the odds of me being able to sustain a flight over the pond again are slim to none), I know I have been there!
So enjoy this cheesy, wonderful time capsule back to the psychedelic days of London and enjoy my pick for the 5th best song of all time, “Whiter Shade Of Pale” by Procul Harum. Until next time, K.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA
