SMASHED HITS Pop lyrics re-appraised by the Magazine
SMASHED HITS Pop lyrics re-appraised by the Magazine
Source of inspiration, and soon to be a office/dining complexThe Hammersmith Palais, which closes this week, was immortalised by The Clash's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, a song Joe Strummer ended his gigs with right up to his death in 2002. But what's the song all about?
Source of inspiration, to songwriters and property developers alikeThe Hammersmith Palais, which closes this week, was immortalised by The Clash's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais, a song Joe Strummer ended his gigs with right up to his death in 2002. But what's the song all about?
The Britain of The Clash is no longer with us. "I live by the river" was the clarion call of the dispossessed in their 1979 hit London Calling; nowadays, it's the boast of a Thameside double-mortgage condo-dweller.
The Britain of The Clash is no longer with us. "I live by the river" was the clarion call of the dispossessed in their 1979 hit London Calling; nowadays, it's the boast of a Thameside double-mortgage condo-dweller.
And the scene of the previous year's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais is now to be demolished for an office-and-restaurant complex.
And the scene of the previous year's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais is now to be demolished for an office-and-restaurant complex.
In 1919, a former tram shed in west London became the Hammersmith Palais De Danse, the beginning of thousands of nights of jazz, swing, pop, rock, bhangra and ska - as well as the School Disco phenomenon.
In 1919, a former tram shed in west London became the Hammersmith Palais De Danse, the beginning of thousands of nights of jazz, swing, pop, rock, bhangra and ska - as well as the School Disco phenomenon.
And it's a reggae all-nighter at the Palais that Clash frontman Joe Strummer's describing in the track.
And it's a reggae all-nighter at the Palais that Clash frontman Joe Strummer's describing in the track.
Reggae DJ Don Letts had thought the event would be up The Clash's alley, but the lyric starts from the seditionary Strummer's disappointment at the apolitical poppiness he witnessed - "onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel".
Reggae DJ Don Letts had thought the event would be up The Clash's alley, but the lyric starts from the seditionary Strummer's disappointment at the apolitical poppiness he witnessed - "onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel".
The Palais' history dates back to the old dance hall daysStrummer had hoped for reggae to be the voice of struggle, like other white British youths before and since - the reason we have the coinage "trustafarian" being that many of them are, like Strummer, public schoolboys and/or diplomats' sons.
The Palais' history dates back to the old dance hall daysStrummer had hoped for reggae to be the voice of struggle, like other white British youths before and since - the reason we have the coinage "trustafarian" being that many of them are, like Strummer, public schoolboys and/or diplomats' sons.
But then the lyric takes an unexpected turn into gonzo reportage with a cast including Robin Hood, Paul Weller and Adolf Hitler. What it's "about" depends on who you ask: the death knell of punk? A call for racial unity? An attack on gun culture?
But then the lyric takes an unexpected turn into gonzo reportage with a cast including Robin Hood, Paul Weller and Adolf Hitler. What it's "about" depends on who you ask: the death knell of punk? A call for racial unity? An attack on gun culture?
This ambiguity was unlike punk's previous stark messages - Tom Robinson saw it as The Clash realising that they could "afford to admit the contradictions that we all face."
This ambiguity was unlike punk's previous stark messages - Tom Robinson saw it as The Clash realising that they could "afford to admit the contradictions that we all face."
Certainly, there's disillusionment and fear of futility in there. The Jam take a pasting for their off-the-peg jackets and "turning rebellion into money" (a barb some thought was literally rich from a band signed to CBS for £100,000) and the new "solution" proposed ("Why not phone up Robin Hood and ask him for some wealth distribution?") strikes the same ambivalent note as the various versions of The Beatles' Revolution.
Certainly, there's disillusionment and fear of futility in there. The Jam take a pasting for their off-the-peg jackets and "turning rebellion into money" (a barb some thought was literally rich from a band signed to CBS for £100,000) and the new "solution" proposed ("Why not phone up Robin Hood and ask him for some wealth distribution?") strikes the same ambivalent note as the various versions of The Beatles' Revolution.
What makes it fun?
What makes it fun?
There's ambivalence, too, about violence. On the one hand, the White Man is isolated and scared of guns - "please, Mister, leave me alone"; on the other, Strummer took to ad-libbing "and good for you" after the verse about UK punk rockers "fighting for a good place under the lighting" - at least until sideman Mick Jones persuaded him that the band had hosted one too many skinhead invasions-cum-bloodbaths.
There's ambivalence, too, about violence. On the one hand, the White Man is isolated and scared of guns - "please, Mister, leave me alone"; on the other, Strummer took to ad-libbing "and good for you" after the verse about UK punk rockers "fighting for a good place under the lighting" - at least until sideman Mick Jones persuaded him that the band had hosted one too many skinhead invasions-cum-bloodbaths.
Joe Strummer, centre, So the White Man sees a problem, but can't tell what to do. How is a song about isolation and confusion so well loved, so often covered, and so much fun?
Joe Strummer, centre, So the White Man sees a problem, but can't tell what to do. How is a song about isolation and confusion so well loved, so often covered, and so much fun?
The answer's partly given in another piece of onstage patter - Strummer liked to introduce the song with the advice "for this one, you move your arse sideways instead of up and down."
The answer's partly given in another piece of onstage patter - Strummer liked to introduce the song with the advice "for this one, you move your arse sideways instead of up and down."
Sonically, this was a new noise from "a big fat riff group", as Strummer described the 1976-77 Clash.
Sonically, this was a new noise from "a big fat riff group", as Strummer described the 1976-77 Clash.
Phased hi-hats, acoustic guitars, harmonica and backing vocals play off the "sideways" reggae rhythm - it's undeniably a London song, but it's a London where ska and hippies and punk and rock melt into one another - and so there's playful joy there too, clearer in the music than in the words.
Phased hi-hats, acoustic guitars, harmonica and backing vocals play off the "sideways" reggae rhythm - it's undeniably a London song, but it's a London where ska and hippies and punk and rock melt into one another - and so there's playful joy there too, clearer in the music than in the words.
Punk's Gettysburg
Punk's Gettysburg
What we get from the lyric is a journey. Early on, Strummer despairs that the "many black ears" are listening to pop rather than a rebel message. Then, as if anticipating Don Letts' later rejoinder that for Jamaicans, "the ghetto is something you get out of", he weighs up the pros and cons of armed resistance, gives up on his fellow punks, and gets a rise out of himself, "the all-night drug-prowling wolf who looks so sick in the sun".
What we get from the lyric is a journey. Early on, Strummer despairs that the "many black ears" are listening to pop rather than a rebel message. Then, as if anticipating Don Letts' later rejoinder that for Jamaicans, "the ghetto is something you get out of", he weighs up the pros and cons of armed resistance, gives up on his fellow punks, and gets a rise out of himself, "the all-night drug-prowling wolf who looks so sick in the sun".
Don Letts, right, with former Clash guitarist Mick JonesWhat makes White Man stand out is that the journey carries on after it 4'01" are up. Former NME journalist Danny Baker calls it "punk's Gettysburg Address" - and while the UK has changed, this song has weathered better than some of punk's starker 45s.
Don Letts, right, with former Clash guitarist Mick JonesWhat makes White Man stand out is that the journey carries on after it 4'01" are up. Former NME journalist Danny Baker calls it "punk's Gettysburg Address" - and while the UK has changed, this song has weathered better than some of punk's starker 45s.
In 2007, modern-day Strummers lambast hip hop for being more interested in bling than in civil rights, "punk" groups are far faker than they were in 1979 and still the "youths" haven't agreed on a "solution". ¡La lucha continua! - solidarity over time - as the South American Strummers say.
In 2007, modern-day Strummers lambast hip hop for being more interested in bling than in civil rights, "punk" groups are far faker than they were in 1979 and still the "youths" haven't agreed on a "solution". ¡La lucha continua! - solidarity over time - as the South American Strummers say.
The wrecking ball is still headed for the Palais, though - and with the London Astoria going the same way, there's a lot less space for a certain kind of gig: the kind between the pub backroom and the pocket-emptying stadium event.
The wrecking ball is still headed for the Palais, though - and with the London Astoria going the same way, there's a lot less space for a certain kind of gig: the kind between the pub backroom and the pocket-emptying stadium event.
Punks may be cheered that (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais will echo around the shell for a while, following a farewell gig from The Good The Bad And The Queen with The Clash's Paul Simonon on bass. Don Letts is DJing, Mick Jones is expected - and Joe Strummer? He won't be there for obvious reasons, but perhaps he'd have had more fun at this concert than at the one that spawned the song.
Punks may be cheered that (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais will echo around the shell for a while, following a farewell gig from The Good The Bad And The Queen with The Clash's Paul Simonon on bass. Don Letts is DJing, Mick Jones is expected - and Joe Strummer? He won't be there for obvious reasons, but perhaps he'd have had more fun at this concert than at the one that spawned the song.
