Released September 1967 Length 2:42 | Genre Psychedelic rock | |
Recorded June 1967
Olympic Studios, London Label Regal Zonophone (UK)
Deram (US) Writer(s) Gary Brooker, Keith Reid | ||
"Conquistador" is a song by the British psychedelic rock band Procol Harum. Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. It was later released as a single from the band's 1972 live album Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the band's most famous and popular songs and their third Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (after 1967's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg"), peaking at number 16.
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Background and composition
The song's lyrics were written by Keith Reid and its music was written by Gary Brooker, who also sang. It was featured on the band's 1967 album, Procol Harum. The song is unusual in that the music was written before the lyrics; according to Reid, "99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music." He explained that Brooker had written a piece of Spanish-flavored music before the band had officially formed, and Reid decided to write lyrics about a conquistador. In August 1971, Procol Harum was invited to perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Edmonton, Alberta. "Conquistador" was added to the set with little time to spare, and the orchestra had no time to rehearse. Nonetheless, they began the concert with the song, and the concert was captured on the album Procol Harum Live In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, of which "Conquistador" was the lead single.
Lyrics content
The narrator of "Conquistador" addresses a conquistador, at whose obvious decay, and at the signs of whose desiccation and desolation, he at first jeers. But in time, he is regretful of his mockery, for the conquistador whom he was addressing was unsuccessful in that he "did not conquer, only die." The refrain consists of the morose couplet:
with which the selection closes just before its instrumental trumpet coda, which gives it a mariachi-esque but mournful sound.
Release and reception
Besides "A Whiter Shade of Pale", "Conquistador" was the band's highest charting single. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 29 July 1972, exactly five years to the date after "A Whiter Shade of Pale" ascended to its #5 peak, and helped catapult the album into the top five. "Conquistador" peaked at #22 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was generally well received by music critics. Bruce Eder of Allmusic praised it as "the most accessible song" on Procol Harum Live In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, adding that "nothing else [on the album] matches it for sheer, bracing excitement." It was listed on Dave Thompson's 1000 Songs that Rock Your World.
Personnel
1967
1972