(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais by The Clash (1978)

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(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (7-inch) (1978)

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais is a song released on June 16, 1978 by the English punk rock band the Clash with a 7-inch single through CBS Records. The song featured in American version of the band’s debut studio album The Clash between the version of White Riot and London’s Burning. [1]

Key Lyrics

Midnight to six, man

For the first time from Jamaica

Dillinger and a'Leroy Smart

Delroy Wilson, your cool operator

Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae

With backin' bands sound systems

If they got anything to say

There's many black ears here to listen

But it was Four Tops all night with encores from stage right

Charging from the bass knives to the treble

But onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel

Onstage they ain't got no...roots rock rebel [2]

Black Empowerment

The song rails against racism in Britain, as well as violence ailing the streets as concluded in, “If Adolf Hitler flew in today / They'd send a limousine anyway.”[3]

"The audience was really hardcore," he said. "I felt they were looking for something different from a showbiz spectacle. It was very Vegas. I was enjoying the show, but I felt like I saw it through their eyes for a minute or two." As the song goes on, Strummer turns his attention toward a British punk scene that was "turning rebellion into money."

The song was based on the band’s vocalist, Joe Strummer’s experience who attended a reggae with black kids hoping that the concert would be like black punk which was voicing radical and political where the punk band argued that punk and reggae were one in the same thing. [4] However, the concert disappointed him, which turned out just pop music and the groups of performance about getting a good spot without using their voices to talk or voice more about political message where Strummer expected that lots of black people talking about racists, fascists, political messages over their songs or lyrics. Throughout this song, the band took the place to deliver all the issues such as racism and fascism of the human races, including Black community. [5] [6]

The vocalist had hoped for reggae to be the voice of struggle, this song also addressing and promoting unity between black and white youths, as reflected in the line: White youth, black youth // Better find another solution // Why not phone up a'Robin Hood // And ask him for some wealth distribution?. [7] [8] [9]

References

  1. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais. wikipedia.org. Retrieved January 24, 2021
  2. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais The Clash. genius.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021
  3. https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/best-protest-songs/. January 20, 2021. radiox.co.uk. Retrieved January 24, 2021
  4. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais [7-inch (1978)]. June 11, 2018. punknews.org. Retrieved February 6, 2021
  5. Readers’ Poll: The Best Clash Songs. August 13, 2013. rollingstone.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021
  6. The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais. songmeanings.com. Retrieved February 6, 2021
  7. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais The Clash. genius.com. Retrieved February 6, 2021
  8. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais. wikipedia.org. Retrieved February 6, 2021
  9. White man's blues. news.bbc.co.uk. March 30, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2021