As a teenager, my musical taste grazed on the poppy side of Prog Mountain, which was the territory of the band Procol Harum, one of those English bands whose non-musician lyricist was an official member. Some literature to compensate for relative lack of changes in time signatures. I'd had in my possession only the Best of Procol Harum album, which, in retrospect, is a bright, shining tip of their musical iceberg. Of course, their hit that everyone is either in love with or sick of hearing leads off, but there are "Shine on Brightly," "A Salty Dog," "Simple Sister," and "Conquistador" to look forward to. However, against that competition, "Homburg," the third song on the album, might be my perennial favorite. Who isn't drawn to hum along with the contrapuntal harmony in the chorus? If you're not, I'll make you some coffee.
My sole complaint about this track was always that it faded-out too soon, during an inspired repetition of the chorus. (I could also complain about the sound of the cymbals, which hangs in the air like aggressive tape his – but I can now EQ that out myself.) It's one of those songs whose faded-out endings one wishes one could hear or its full duration as recorded. Well, a few years ago, there came the 50th Anniversary version, with its full studio jam intact, doubling the duration, and without vocals for the last 2.5 minutes. But of course, they'd originally left out the best part. Finally, it comes to a respectable real-musicians' ending, a gentle consensual ritard, and I am left with closure to one of the greatest mysteries of my adolescence.
Addendum, a couple days later:
Moved by this video to re-listen to more Procol Harum songs, it suddenly dawned on me why I like the chorus of "Homburg" so much: it has J.S. Bach all over it. It's in that counterpoint that I'm drawn to hum-along with. It's well-known that that Procol Harum that everyone either loves or is sick of hearing was at least inspired by Bach's ode to a certain article of feminine undergarment, but their instrumental piece "Repent Walpurgis" was ripped off derived from Bach's Prelude in C Major. I've yet to put my finger on the piece that fed Homburg, but it vaguely reminds me of this piece by Michel Magne, an adaptation of a Bach piece for the score of one of my favorite films. That, in turn, was recorded with lyrics, in French, by a chanteuse named Maysa.
"Homburg" was contemporaneously recorded - in Italiano – by Il Camaleoneti.