“(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” by The Clash

The Hammersmith Palais was an entertainment venue that existed in London for nearly a century. And the reason this song is named so is because Joe Strummer once attended a mini-concert there, alongside a couple of his Clash homeys, and said show was headlined by genuine Jamaican reggae artists. 

Well what Joe didn’t know at the time is that such acts also tend to regularly give in to the system. So instead of being treated to songs along the lines of, say Bob Marley – as Strummer, being who he was, had hoped – he and the audience was instead treated to impotent, mainstream type of fare.

And it is that experience that the first three verses of this song are based on. The acts who performed that night, who Strummer puts on blast, were Delroy Wilson, Leroy Smart and Dillinger. And apparently Ken Boothe, who is also namedropped, didn’t actually perform, but the reason he is mentioned is as the personification of “pop reggae”, i.e. mainstream reggae with no type of political message at all. 

And getting right down to the nitty-gritty, let’s just say that Joe perceived this brand of music as being akin to selling out. As he states in the second verse leading into the third, these musicians are the people who possessed the ears of the Black masses. But instead of coming out on the “roots rock rebel” tip, they were instead more inclined to come off like the completely-harmless Four Tops.

There are Serious Matters to be Dealt with!

The reason the vocalist is spazzing like this, as implied in the fourth verse, is because he feels the times are too serious for such frivolousness. Instead in his mind, the “White youth [and] Black youth” should be teaming up to confront the system in the name of “wealth distribution”, a term which more or less points to the concept of achieving justice in general. But instead the likes of ‘punk rockers’ – this time with Joe turning his attention on the prevailing White youth musical subculture of the day – are more concerned with fighting with each other for meaningless causes. 

Meanwhile others are being compelled to sell out literally, i.e. being granted substantial salaries or what have you, which in turn makes them satisfied and complacent. And in that regard it has been concluded that The Clash were actually dissing one of their contemporaries, another band from England known as The Jam.

The vocalist then proceeds to criticize the political climate of the 1970s’ United Kingdom. In doing so, he hints that Adolf Hitler, who as traditionally perceived in the eyes of the people was a major A-hole, would instead in present times be celebrated. And of course Hitler was very big into the concept of racial superiority and what have you. 

So it can be said that this song possesses a discernible racial undertone, with such matters being symbolic of inequality in general.

The Irony in “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”

Somewhat ironically with all of the above in mind, the song concludes with the vocalist proclaiming that he’s ‘just a Whiteman in the Palais looking for fun’. That seems to be his way of saying that at the end of the day, he has no choice but to give in to the carefree party spirit of the night. 

But this isn’t a dance song where possessing such a disposition is considered a good thing. And all lyrics considered, such can be taken as an expression of sarcasm. Or let’s say that even if the singer ultimately appears like any other partygoer at the Hammersmith Palais reggae concert, we know that he didn’t go there looking for a party per se and that in the back of his mind he’s preoccupied with much more serious matters. 

Joe talks about “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”

And the lesson Joe took away from all of this is that the revolution or major social upheaval he hoped for was unlikely to ever materialize. This is because even those who previously he thought were down for the cause have rather proven that they aren’t.

Facts about “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”

This song came out on 16 June 1978. It was originally featured on the US version of The Clash’s self-titled debut album. Apparently the reason it was not featured on the standard edition of said album was because the band didn’t get around to putting it together until after the standard edition of The Clash was already completed.

This song was written by the following members of The Clash:

• Mick Jones
• Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

And the entire band is credited with producing it in conjunction with the late Sandy Pearlman (1943-2016).

“(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” only reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. However, it is considered a major clash success story nonetheless as at the time, dropping such a track was not their norm. In fact according to The Clash’s website, this “was the first original song to directly combine rock with reggae”. 

And this tune is also known to have been a personal favorite of Strummer’s throughout the years. He loved it so much so that it even made an appearance at his funeral.