According to the rock band Procol Harum, where were the sixteen vestal virgins going?

Procol Harum is an English rock band formed in 1967. Their current members include Gary Brooker, Geoff Whitehorn, Matt Pegg, Josh Phillips and Geoff Dunn though there is a long list of former members. Their best-known recording "A Whiter Shade of Pale", is one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. The group have been active since forming with a break between 1977 and 1991.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" was released on 12 May 1967. Considered Baroque music, it has a countermelody based on J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No.3 in D Major. The single reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Canadian RPM Magazine chart. In the United States it reaching No. 5 on 29 July 1967 and in Australia it set a record of 8 weeks in Melbourne.

The lyrics include:

One of sixteen vestal virgins

Who were leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open

They might have just as well've been closed