Keith Reid

I was seventeen and listening to a presentation of new records on the radio. I wore earphones so as not to annoy my parents. The song I was listening to was very sad and tears were running down my cheeks. There had been other very gloomy songs before. All the songs were English, of course, and it took a while before I realized that I had understood everything without having to translate anything. The words were straight and simple, the situations they described were completely clear to me, and the images they evoked I could see.

The record I was listening to was "Home" by "Procol Harum", and the song was "Nothing that I didn't know". Gary Brooker's cristal clear voice helped a lot, of course. But the words were by Keith Reid. And he has been my hero since. I had loved Procol Harum songs before, "A whiter shade of pale", of course, and "Homburg". And it wasn't the first time I understood a complete song instantly. "Rambling on" I could sing as soon as I had heard it only once. Well, almost. I had been 15 then.

When I began writing songs 30(!) years later I remembered the excitement and enthusiasm I had felt at that moment. I also remembered my enthusiasm for Procol Harum's "Grand Hotel" and its lyrics. And I decided to strive for becoming as clear and transparant as Keith Reid, to keep the wording simple without compromising the quality of my lyrics.