Procol Harum - Conquistador Lyrics






Conquistador your stallion stands in need of company
And like some angel's haloed brow
You reek of purity
I see your armour-plated breast has long since lost its sheen
And in your death mask face
There are no signs which can be seen
And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind
Conquistador a vulture sits upon your silver shield
And in your rusty scabbard now
The sand has taken seed
And though your jewel-encrusted blade has not been plundered still
The sea has washed across your face
And taken of its fill
And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind
Conquistador there is no time
I must pay my respect
And though I came to jeer at you
I leave now with regret
And as the gloom begins to fall
I see there is no aureole
And though you came with sword held high
You did not conquer, only die
And though I hoped for something to find
I could see no maze to unwind





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Procol Harum Conquistador Comments
  1. D.... C....

    Robin Trower on lead guitar

  2. R.... M....

    What an absolutely brilliant, but under appreciated song.

  3. A.... ....

    The drummer, arguably the best in rock music, and who turned down Led Zepplin's offer to be their drummer, was so highly revered that during the concert he was positioned center stage, in front of the band and the orchestra


    R.I.P , B.J. Wilson.

    A.... ....

    Adominae Is that Zep story true?

  4. G.... R....

    A masterpiece

  5. d.... ....

    great tune from a great band!

  6. C.... M....

    Edmonton Symphony Orchestra!

  7. J.... R....

    This was big in ‘67.Quite a sophisticated arrangement for that time.They were pathfinders,for sure.This is the live extended version a recorded in Alberta,and the best.

  8. W.... H....

    The. Pistol pictured. Is a flintlock. The conquistador utilized. Crossbows and matchlocks not flintlocks or cap locks

  9. e.... b....

    56 US Republican Senators gave a thumbs down to this song...

  10. N.... ....

    Hey🕺call me BLAZYCAT.,. COWBELL 🏷️ REMIX 🎱 STAT ⚡ 🌠

  11. S.... O....

    Amazing

  12. E.... D....

    Cortes - Montezuma the AKA Roman multinational armada killing and burning books taking ll gold ..and asking the constant question.."who and where are the ones that built this stuff(1100 pyramids)?!" Pits and death of truth or not providing and either way murder and the last remaining remnants of Atlantis/the new world/ THE AMERICAS..forgive and to forget..didnt happen..has it..I still forgive all culprits of the Atlantis takeover.. SHAME! SHAME -SHAME!!! In the house of the father NOT burden you today?KEEP YOUR NARRATIVE hand me down explanation..please.. MY .conscious lifted..thank you for that

  13. P.... D....

    Well, yeh, they DID conquer. The Portuguese and Spanish conquered the whole bloody Western Hemisphere.

    P.... D....

    Not, the whole bloody Western Hemisphere, moreso what is now the Southwestern US and all of Latin America!!

  14. W.... B....

    I have a handful of favorite songs. This one tops them all.

  15. H.... S....

    I am 49 born in 1970 and i love this song

  16. C.... L....

    Was Robin Trower still in the group when this was released

    C.... L....

    Dave Ball played guitar on this version of Conquistador.

  17. d.... ....

    It's part of what we call 'CanCon', because it was done with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and thus got more airplay here in Canada.

  18. n.... ....

    At least three keyboards to play this...but lots of fun!!!

  19. R.... B....

    Love Procol Harum

  20. M.... S....

    Excellent job!

  21. G.... ....

    I love the drums and the vocals.

  22. m.... ....

    Any list of songs that give me the feels whenever I listen to them would have to include this one. It's the organ solo that starts at 3:22 where the feels really kick in for me.

  23. M.... B....

    The Spaniards killed entire populations of Americans.

    M.... B....

    And Americans have killed Indians and anyone else who got in 'their' way.

    M.... B....

    @ej b Just like the Indians themselves did.

    M.... B....

    @Johnny Elizabethton You are full of crap, idiot liar. Go far away.

  24. 5.... f....

    70% of the Conquistadors died of tropical diseases, fatigue or in battle.. Respect to the first real Pioneers of The New World.

  25. 5.... f....

    Thanks for opening the doors to these magnificent lands that helped Europe so much.

  26. 5.... f....

    First Ever Conquistadors of the west. The first empire that the sun never sets...

  27. m.... ....

    No auto-tune here boy and girls. Amazing music and lyrics.

  28. e.... b....

    Epic, rarefied air. The drummer is amazing here- awestruck fills combined with changing the beat up constantly.

    e.... b....

    ej b The late BJ Wilson.

  29. L.... B....

    WoW they sure had thought provoking lyrics xoxo

  30. o.... ....

    As a youngster I only heard the great music. Now I hear the very hauntingly poetic lyrics this song contains. Just like the "Salty Dog" song paints a stunning musical picture. Rap music...eat your heart out!!

  31. H.... J....

    You could be a little more Johnny on the spot with them lyrics, but I gave it a 10 anyway. Great song. Well done video.

  32. M.... B....

    Just as with every era there seems to be a pinnacle that music reaches... take the Renaissance Period music from the middle ages!


    What makes great music great at a particular time is not that it is so "original" but that it combines so well in an often completely different way music (and poetry) as has lived with us for many generations!


    Many of the greatest "classical" works were based upon simple "folk" music of the times!


    This is exactly what 'Procol Harum' and many other groups from that period have achieved!
    (Not to diminish similar "happenings" in the '80s and '90's...)


    AN ASIDE (un aparté): [The current composition of music and accompanying words that we have access to is so incredibly complex as is the rest of our "modern" civilization! What we have come to experience almost upon a daily basis are ingenious musical/poetic ventures into the worlds of both the "Sacred" and the "Profane"! And other times merely a repetition of what we already know. There are currently fewer "limitations" upon musical expression and poetic liberty than ever before! As always the "Beauty is in the ear (eye) of the listener (beholder)!"


    Immediately modern music may at times seem pathetic... Then there is music can transport us into different realms of imagination, sensuality and experience! (And I do not mean "enhanced" by ANY kind of drugs!!!!) For the most part- we are NO LONGER confining ourselves to specific genres of music. As in organic chemistry where we have "mixtures" vs. "solutions"... We have "mixtures" taking musical "events" from many genre and combining them in new ways... or on the other hand musical "events" in total synthesis within a musical/poetic "soup" and carefully pouring it into a "new mold" creating simultaneously both familiar and unfamiliar poetry and music! Both types of creations and everything in-between can reveal incredible creativity... or not!]


    AN ASIDE II (Un aparté- deuxième partie): [I only wish that I do not BORE you with my lengthy responses! I am too old school for simple "one liners" without a reasonable backing of my "observations & opinions"!
    You will be whom as you are... and let me be whom as I am! I believe we all have a place in this!]
    (It gave me satisfaction to add another language even if I totally butchered it! Please understand that I have no desire to "up-stage" anybody else's responses... I only speak from my heart... that is all!)


    ALL YOU PROCOL HARUM LOVERS: Be sure to catch the YouTube video of a live performance of "Lighter Shade of Pale" in Ledreborg, Denmark 2006! With orchestra and choral in an incredible natural landscape!!! Views in and out and through the band and orchestra!


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St6jyEFe5WM


    "A Whiter Shade of Pale' and "Klaidiscope" !968 (I would have been either my Jr. or Sr. year of High School) so, yes... I admit I am the eternal teen-ager... and for the sake of the humanity that lives within me....I really hope that I never completely grow up!!!!!):


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valL7JWjVB4

  33. R.... ....

    Too bad he mispronounces the word 'conquistador'. Ruins the whole song. He should've learned the correct pronunciation. It's con-kees-ta-dor, not con-kwis-ta-dor.

    R.... ....

    They're British its okay

  34. D.... M....

    Stunning Robin Trower !solo... Love the horn section from the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Mathew Fisher's organ playing , B.J.Wison's drumming! ..... A timeless classic! 👍👍

    D.... M....

    sorry pal, it's not Robin.

  35. P.... K....

    Damn. After 40 years of loving this song I get to hear the lyrics that I've been singing wrong! They dont write em like that any more, pure poetry. Thanks much.

  36. B.... D....

    Since l wasn’t old enough to remember this song; my AWSUM DAD has boxes of tapes of all these types of ‘old songs’. I love this generation of ‘pop music’. They can’t compose ANYTHING THESE DAYS ( or over maybe 20+ years ago), these numbers are AWSUM. I never listen to the radio simply because they’re is NOTHING to listen too. I’ll stick to RORY GALLAGHER; & this type of ‘old pop rock’!!! 🎸💚👊🏾🌹✨😃

  37. B.... ....

    I finally found this song after decades. I always thought it was a Moody Blues song.

  38. K.... S....

    Let me do this over again love the group not the song So Much Anymore it reminds me of a very dark phase in my life. This comment is of a personal nature. I'm doing much better in recovery and being very honest living with integrity. Again this is my little confession booth. Amen.

  39. M.... B....

    This is a terrifying perspective from all those peoples that the Spanish conquered "in the name of God"! The Spanish at first were apparently accepted by these indigenous peoples unconditionally only soon betrayed BY the Spanish- brutally slaughtered and persecuted as less than human!

    Still remaining in their innocence... as this song portrays... they (the indigenous peoples Mayan, Aztec, and Incan) are wondering at how the Conquistador could be as he is! Perhaps the Conquistador was more of a "curiosity" to these indigenous peoples than in reverse! By historical descriptions they had no fear of the Conquistador... in fact that may be how they were so easily taken advantage of- considering the Conquistador as almost god-like... only it was this Conquistador slaughtered them man, woman and child mercilessly in a horrific blood-bath!!! The Conquistador's "GOD" condemned these people to a "hell of their own making"! They were pagan and evil... not deserving to live even within the incredible civilizations that they had created!

    This is the same "innocence" that was destroyed when our predominantly English, French, Slavic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon ancestors conquered North America! Although the Spanish destroyed the most "advanced" civilizations of the western world - The rest of Europe had an equal hand at destroying a civilization that has been proven very recently to have existed for at least 130,000 years!!! (2017 results of an anthropological find right here in San Diego!) Thus defying that ALL of our indigenous ancestors came across from the Bering Straight a few thousand years ago!!!

    Our guilt is running terribly deep within our souls! THIS is the horrific legacy of our ancestors passed down to us for many generations! More terrible than even our "brief" promotion of slavery of Black/Negroid individuals! We have been solicit to the murder and banishment of the indigenous peoples within this country! We have treated them as even worse than the black "slaves"! Herding them into places that we considered un-inhabitable for US! We have denied them rights of any other citizen of the United States time and time again! Even within this most recent US administration has determined that THEY HAVE NO RIGHTS! ...when it comes down to Corporate dominance!!!

    I still do not understand why nobody seems to get the irony of this whole situation!!! WE do not belong here! When I say "WE" I mean Donald Trump and his Germanic ancestors, my own Scotch-Irish ancestors, the French, Scandinavian, Russian, Turkish, Iranian, East Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean....on and on! And yet we act like this is OUR land... when it was taken from others by absolute FORCE! WE are the immigrants- supposedly THE GUESTS in this land and yet we have the gall to deny anybody else to come into "our" country except under the most impossible conditions for those who are in desperate need???

  40. R.... B....

    When I heard this song I discovered how great Robin Trower is....

    R.... B....

    That's not Trower..he had left the band for a solo career before this concert.

    R.... B....

    Thanks John, can u tell me who the guitarist is ?

    R.... B....

    @Rodney Butterfield Google procul harum live at Edmonton and you find out...

  41. K.... A....

    quite possible the best song ever written

  42. M.... L....

    The British conquered the world.
    There's no irony here
    Sad.

  43. N.... A....

    wonderful music and lovely song

  44. s.... h....

    Love this tune. Came out before my tour of Germany. (Back when their was an East and West Germany) toe to toe with the rooskies with nukes! Good Times!!!

    s.... h....

    Steve, thank you so much for your service Sir!! I hate those motherfucking worthless pieces of rooskies!!

  45. T.... G....

    Back in the 1970s some of us thought Procol Harum boring -- except for this gripping song. I have loved it from the start, even though it had a touch of borderline insanity.

  46. C.... B....

    This song should have gone higher than whiter shade of pale ....It's epic xx

    C.... B....

    It was a great song, love to return to 1972, and be a 17 yr old kid again.

  47. C.... B....

    Amazing song xx

  48. R.... C....

    This is the perfect marriage of rock and roll and classical orchestra ever.

  49. S.... R....

    I was at this concert in Edmonton. 4th row, center stage at the Jubilee Auditorium. Fantastic!

  50. M.... ....

    Although you came with Sword held High you did not Conquer Only Die:::::::::::

  51. K.... S....

    Those Santa's need to come back to the Amaricas!!!!

  52. A.... D....

    God listens to this because this music heals.

  53. H.... d....

    The days when songs were poetry set to music. Please why cannot someone rise up and take up the banner again? When Leonard Cohen died it was the end of an era never to be repeated.

  54. v.... ....

    My HERO

  55. B.... P....

    Great song. Glad to have found this. I haven't heard it in years.

  56. s.... h....

    I was 12 when this song came out and had actually forgotten it. Thanks for sharing! Great Tune!

  57. c.... c....

    f-u- k   Christopher Columbus . why people still celebrate all the atrocities he commited

    c.... c....

    Say the pic crowd. It was his men under him while he was back in Spain. But he was a staunch Christian so must be vilified. God knows.

  58. A.... P....

    Beautiful video! I got this album for my 13th birthday. Great song. I spent most of my teenage years trying to figure out all the symbols. Thank you for all the information.

  59. D.... C....

    Robin Trower on guitar

    D.... C....

    Dan Cactus it’s Dave Ball on this recording

  60. E.... S....

    What’s the meaning of the words “Procol Harum?”

    E.... S....

    Empty Sky google it

    E.... S....

    Empty Sky It was the name of a cat owned by DJ Guy Stevens who introduced Gary Brooker and Keith Reid. Later they found out that translated from Latin it meant “Beyond These Things”.

  61. D.... H....

    🥀🖤🥀AMAZING JOB GUYS🥀🖤🥀✌

  62. A.... P....

    Montezuma was haunted by the prophecy that a god would return from the east, and coincidentally the spanish came and tried to take power at the exact time the prophecy foretold. Cool shit, bbc documentary on you tube about it, brought me to this song.

  63. J.... J....

    I always enjoyed the popular works that include an orchestra. The combination is excellent. I also like The Pet Shop Boys "Left To My Own Devices" for the same reason.

  64. K.... L....

    I've never heard this song until a few minutes ago at my college and had to search it up. Why is this so catchy?! 😂

    K.... L....

    I was 14 years old when this song came over. The bands then - in the 1970's wrote their own songs and there were a lot of story songs. It was considered very original, good music and story.

    K.... L....

    Korok Lover because it speaks to your heart, it make you think, gives you a visual direction, left something to the imagination, the band paid attention to detail, and didn’t cut corners, and they played real instruments, not from a sound box, no auto tune, real live talent and skill.

  65. G.... E....

    In honor of my Brother - Bless him- left too early!!

  66. C.... A....

    This powerful live version of an already impressive song has been painstakingly visualized. Well done

  67. s.... G....

    I wish I was Spanish

  68. R.... S....

    Too fast version.

  69. J.... S....

    THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE.
    WORDS , MUSIC , VIDEO. JUST WONDERFUL!
    WHOEVER PUT THIS GEM TOGETHER IS A GENIUS. THANK YOU.
    JUNE 2019---FOREVER🌺

  70. H.... B....

    This songs brings back so many good memories crusing around Lincolnton nc

  71. B.... V....

    Can you see any of the bonehead "musicians" composing intricate lyrics and music like this today? Truly, the 1960s was the apex of music, fashion, ideas, hope and dreams. Everything has been dumbed down, including the music in the great wasteland that was once a country like no other.

    B.... V....

    I bow to your views most complicity! However it is true for all music and other art that nothing is truly "original"! Even those magnificent songs that inspire both you and me from the "60's came in an era where there was an intense "regeneration" (if you will my interpretation) of so many musical aspects that it seemed like something completely new!!! The truth is that what was so "new" was the combination and recombination of the music that is a part of our human history! It truly was a remarkable era where so many complex parts of our human/musical history were put together unabashedly and often with great charm!!!

    B.... V....

    you obviously have never heard of Nightwish.......

  72. A.... M....

    Lmao they used a forza font

  73. j.... d....

    You good man,..... Nàxiē huá liu liū de xiǎohuǒzimen, zài yáohuàng de shíhòu zuòle xuánzhuǎn hé gimble, kuàilè de xiǎochī, nà kuàilè de shēngyīn, yīnwèi vipal dāopiàn quèshí shā sǐle Jabberwocky,...What,..?????!!!!!!!.....McArthurs Park, pick up your walking sticks and fight for your right to tea.

  74. N.... ....

    Recorded on 18 November 1971.

  75. M.... G....

    Con key sta dor!

  76. T.... ....

    Best rock band Ever

  77. E.... P....

    Drums play lead. Awesome

  78. M.... ....

    Brings me back to a time when rock and roll was at it's best!

  79. J.... G....

    I once stunned a shipmate in the Navy in the early 80's because I knew this song...He'd never really met anyone in the Navy who did (we were at a very intellectually challenged command)...He couldn't believe it...to you, BM1 Sean Howard, I dedicate this song...

  80. F.... J....

    Was there not a Top of the pops promo video of this featuring a Conquistador and a ghostly deadly lady ? I have a vision of this in my mind as a young boy ! Love to see it again !

  81. r.... S....

    They do not make them like this anymore!

  82. W.... Z....

    Conquistador were pretty good explorers.

    W.... Z....

    They were blights

  83. D.... ....

    Bueno. Murió en el intento, pero creedme. Está más vivo que vosotros.

  84. P.... P....

    Most people only remember "Whiter Shade" but this is better - a real forgotten classic. Great to hear it again.

  85. R.... ....

    Lyric is in error. The line "and as the gloom begins to fall I see there is no, only all" should be "and as the gloom begins to fall I see there is no aureole". An aureole is defined as "a radiant light around the head or body of a representation of a sacred personage". I have seen but one set of lyrics which shows the correct word, aureole.

  86. t.... ....

    As far as I know, Procol Harum is the only band that had listed as one of its members someone who didn't play an instrument or sing, but only wrote lyrics...

    t.... ....

    Agreed ... but "only wrote lyrics" is a small sentence for one so great.

  87. C.... b....

    absolute favorite song

  88. V.... G....

    Bar none one of the greatest songs EVER written! The lyrics are epic!

    V.... G....

    haven't heard this for 20 years. brings back radio days of my youth.

  89. D.... E....

    au·re·ole/ˈôrēˌōl/nounnoun: aureole; plural noun: aureoles; noun: aureola; plural noun: aureolasa circle of light or brightness surrounding something, especially as depicted in art around the head or body of a person represented as holy.

    D.... E....

    Yes! And that is how it begins... however how does it end when the light you may have seen when you first encountered a Conquistador suddenly erupts in the blood of all your brethren spilling upon the pavement of your holy ground?

  90. C.... C....

    Procol Harum – Conquistador Lyrics

    Conquistador your stallion stands

    In need of company

    And like some angel's haloed brow

    You reek of purity

    I see your armour-plated breast

    Has long since lost it's sheen

    And in your death mask face

    There are no signs which can be seen



    And though I hoped for something to find

    I could see no maze to unwind



    Conquistador a vulture sits

    Upon your silver shield

    And in your rusty scabbard now

    The sand has taken seed

    And though your jewel-encrusted blade

    Has not been plundered still

    The sea has washed across your face

    And taken of it's fill



    And though I hoped for something to find

    I could see no maze to unwind



    Conquistador there is no time

    I must pay my respect

    And though I came to jeer at you

    I leave now with regret

    And as the gloom begins to fall

    I see there is no aureole

    And though you came with sword held high

    You did not conquer, only die



    And though I hoped for something to find

    I could see no maze to unwind

    Songwriters: GARY BROOKER, KEITH REID

    Conquistador lyrics © T.R.O. INC.

  91. C.... C....

    mistake in the lyric: there is no aureole (halo) ,,,,,not there is no all

  92. R.... ....

    Magnificent. I especially like the drums

  93. J.... K....

    FUCKING AWESOME

  94. M.... F....

    the musicianship is insane!!!!

    M.... F....

    We are in the Presence of Greatness

  95. K.... S....

    Awsome song about Spain!! When they had balls...

    K.... S....

    @jimmy fortrue and hows that?

    K.... S....

    @Kevin Stimelsky Not originally written as a Vietnam anti war song but at the time it was widely received as such because the war was at it's peak. ....
    Sorry I should have explained myself better. Didn't mean it as a challenge to your opinion, more of a description to the way it was interpreted at the time.
    It was written to describe a fallen conquistador.

    K.... S....

    @jimmy fortrue no prob! According to Gary Brooker the song was simply written about the once glorias power of spain to its demise. Awsome song! Very powerful.. Total classic!!

    K.... S....

    @Kevin Stimelsky definitely has been in my top list of favorite songs of all time for many many years.

    K.... S....

    @jimmy fortrue yeah buddy!

  96. z.... ....

    Never bring a severed, still-beating heart to a gun fight.

  97. R.... ....

    Nice video but, "I came to cheer at you." Not "I came to jeer at you". It's his disappointment showing.

  98. E.... C....

    One of the best produced songs of all time.the sound is amazing.

  99. M.... T....

    I've never made a Top 25 of my favorites songs, but if I did this would be there.  I've played piano since I was 5 years old and that was 62 years ago.  When I sit down to play, my wife of 36 years always requests this.  I'm always happy to oblige!!!  Great video art put to this song and love that the lyrics were added!

  100. A.... S....

    Masterpiece!