What your favorite song?

This thread makes me laugh. Some people post on this here, and then never post in the subforum again. . .

MOST of the people who post on here never post on the subforum again.

There's like... 5 people who still post
Ah well... i suppose there's not really anything new & wacky like the band reforming so... that's a terrible excuse but hey...

I didn't realize I actually posted on here. Yeah I guess we all have posted on here at one point in time. Bleh, whatever.

Ha, Clash reunion. Mick, Paul, and Topper. Wonder if it'll ever happen.

No Joe, No Clash.


That was lame But yea... I doubt i'd really... idk... i doubt i'd like a clash reunion really.

Mick, Paul, and Topper could meet up for tea or something. And say that they've been reunion-ed. Then live happily ever after. The end.

I don't think Paul would go for it, Mick might and not call it the Clash. Topper probably wouldn't.

I bet they do meet up for tea though. I could imagine that after Joe's death, they must have been close for a while, I mean, they were like family for a while. Suppose losing the founding father...actually not really, but he was older and more mature than the lot when they started and he had the most experience. But yeah, suppose they must have at some point met up to remenisce, however the hell you spell that word.

They are certainly not daft enough to reunite, unlike this recent-ish news of the Sex Pistols reunion. I'm sure it's going to end in tears, or at least a disaster and the same would most likely apply to The Clash, if they were to do so. It's very true, no Joe = No Clash. Ironically, they probably only end up disappointing the fans rather than trying to encourage them.

ronically, they probably only end up disappointing the fans rather than trying to encourage them.



pffft you are a crappy Clash fan if them not wanting a reunion disappoints you. It actually makes them seem bigger in my eyes. I want to stick to an idea and never betray it.

And to bring this thread back on topic (even though I was totally the one who fucked it up in the first place ), I'm currently obessed with Straight to Hell and I think it's tied with White Man as my favorite.

east infection.:

ronically, they probably only end up disappointing the fans rather than trying to encourage them.



pffft you are a crappy Clash fan if them not wanting a reunion disappoints you. It actually makes them seem bigger in my eyes. I want to stick to an idea and never betray it.

I meant disappointing the fans if they do reunite...

'Straight to Hell' has always been a favourite of mine because of all the South-East Asian sorta of vibes and allusions and stuff. It strikes a chord in my heat, the lyrics and the music. And it really is musically one of their most beautiful songs. I shall listen to it once again right now. *Pauses to go to her Windows Media Player.*

*Whilst the song is playing.* Yeah, it's actually kid of artsy, the way I'm narrating it alongside the song. Anyway, it's like a complete symphony of sounds this thing. The percussion of course stands out the most thanks to our Topper, it really adds the icing on this Orientally chanrged song. And, I have to say, Joe's voice in this song, is at it's most tonally beautiful and full. I mean you never talk about tone when it comes to voices in rock or in the guitar or bass, but the lot of them hit the mark with this. 'It ain't Coca Cola, it's rice', Joe's voice reverberates at it's lower baritone range you rarely hear, creating such an overwhelming feeling of...like...fuck it. I can't describe it. It's emotion. Pure raw emotion at it's best.

Paul's bass playing also deserves worthy metioning, on this album he really masters the bass. I mean, in London Calling and on Sandinista! he is a star on his bass, but again, on Combat Rock there is more tonality and I think I'm raight in saying that he did change around his bass at this time.

Anyway, song done, analysis over.

Oops, sorry.

Straight to Hell is perfection tbh.

Lol. No problem.

Is it even possible to have a favourite song? They're the best band ever, all the songs are good!!! BRILLIANT more like.

*tries to think*

My top fave has been Straight to Hell.

omg has anyone heard that Gwen Stefani/the Clash mixup song? It's kinda funny

Lady Stardust:

*tries to think*

My top fave has been Straight to Hell.

omg has anyone heard that Gwen Stefani/the Clash mixup song? It's kinda funny

I've heard of it, but not it. And to be honest, I'm curious. I love Gwen Stefani as the ska-pop princess she once was. And I loved her for including Terry Hall in the music video for 'Sunday Morning'.

London Calling so catchy (my fave)
2nd fave would have to be Rock the casbah

Death or Glory

and then Should I Stay or Should I Go - I learned that song from the Rugrats Go Wild movie.

Commentary from like two years ago:

‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’ written by Joe Strummer, former front man of The Clash, is a song featuring some of Joe Strummer’s most profound, politically fuelled lyrics. Often considered to be his best work, Strummer dips into a wide range of themes which nearly summarises the time at which it was written. He explores the themes of commercialisation and his disappointment in the music industry, the youth’s response towards violence in the police force, communism, and racial discrimination.

The title is a very important part of the song, though it is never quite fully mentioned in the body of the song. The parenthesized ‘white man’ creates a very direct message indicating that the song deals with race. Though it is parenthesized, it is often included with the rest of the title. The parenthesis seems to create a visual barrier in between the ‘white man’ and ‘Hammersmith Palais’ which symbolises how out of place the ‘white man’ is in the palais. There is also a certain about of ambiguity about who the ‘white man’ could be, because until the end, the song doesn’t specify who the narrator is. It does appear at one point to be in the second person (‘Your cool operator’) but otherwise remains ambiguous. Anyone who sings it could be the ‘white man’. This creates a very personal connection between the narrator or performer and the listener. At the same time, it also appears to distance the song from many black listeners. This was never so much the case though because The Clash found many black fans throughout their career.

The first two verses explore the state of reggae music and concerts at the time the song was written (1977). Joe Strummer had attended a reggae all-nighter at a concert hall called Hammersmith Palais in London. He observed musicians such as ‘Ken Boothe’ and ‘Delroy Wilson’ and found their performances to be more like stage acts and less ‘roots, rock [and] rebel’ than he expected. He considered them to be more ‘pop’ acts and found them very disappointing. The lyrics are very unconventional because at the time, reggae music was considered to be very popular amongst youth culture, and here was a song heavily criticising it citing that they’re only trying ‘for a good place under the lighting’. His discontent is expressed in the first line on the third verse, comparing the acts to the ‘Four Tops’ who were a popular R&B and pop group.

He responds to these performances by saying ‘there’s many black ears here to listen’. This again deals with the issue of race and shows how separated the youth appears to be. There is also a reflection on segregation with the ‘white man’ observing the concert amongst the ‘many black’ people who are also here. There is an interesting juxtaposition here where the ‘white man’ is describing the state of reggae as he sees it, which is a culture often associated with black people. This song can therefore also be interpreted as a cry for cultural and racial acceptance. However, because of his unique interpretation of the experience, it could be that his expectations were not fulfilled simply because he didn’t actually know what to expect, coming for a different cultural background.

In the subsequent verse, Strummer speaks of the futility of violence, rebellion, and armed revolution. He highlights the issue of gun culture and the army. He speaks of violence with a tone of ambivalence, saying that ‘guns’ ‘won’t get you anywhere’ and begs ‘please, Mister, just leave me alone’. Yet Strummer often took to adlibbing ‘Good for you’, after the line ‘They're all too busy fighting/For a good place under the lighting’, however, this could merely be sarcastic. He talks of ‘the British army’ waiting, weighing ‘fifteen hundred pounds’ but not actually doing anything.

He urges the ‘white youth [and] black youth’ to ‘find another solution’. This is often interpreted as an anti-violent message of racial unity, that the youths are to ‘find another solution’ other than violence to resolve their problems. This message has even more illustrative meaning when you realise that the song was written in 1977 when there was a lot of racial tension between the black and white populations of England. The time period of which this song was written is an important part of the themes it deals with.

His view on consumerism is conveyed in his phrase about those people in ‘Burton suits’ who ‘[turn] rebellion into money’. This is often thought to regard rival punk group, The Jam, and their signing to major record label, CBS. He also refers to similar ‘punk rockers’ who don’t take notice to anything other than their place in the spotlight. This could be a reference to both bands like The Jam as well as the reggae artists Strummer had observed who were supposed to incite their fans with political messages about change and social reformation but instead are only concerned with their popularity.

Strummer also discusses right wing politics and insists that ‘If Adolf Hitler flew in today/They'd send a limousine anyway’. This very controversial line exudes a certain sardonic irony as Adolf Hitler is often portrayed as the epitome of evil, yet he would still receive luxurious treatment. His bias towards left wing politics is quite apparent as he talks of asking ‘Robin Hood’ for ‘some wealth distribution’ addressing the continual rise of the extreme right wing because of ‘people changing their votes’ (The Jam had announced that they were voting for the Tories). Strummer also suggests that consumerism is running politics as, ‘people [are] changing their votes/Along with their overcoats’. This implies that the public are only concerned with what is popular at the moment rather than what they themselves think is right.

In the end, however, Strummer redirects the focus onto himself, and when he talks about what he’s doing in the palais in the moment, he simply replies that ‘he’s only looking for fun’. It could be that he is ‘looking’ for fun in the palais, and didn’t find it, indicating that his idea of fun is voicing provocative ideas for social change. This gives the final few lines of the song a tone of bathos, because whilst he was talking of changing the world and reuniting the youth, in the end, he only wanted to have fun. It might be that the ‘white man’ endlessly sees what’s wrong, but doesn’t know what to do about it. This is more of an existentialist’s interpretation as Strummer appears to list everything he finds fault in, overwhelming the audience, and in the end he accepts that he cannot fully understand it all and so resorts to find meaning by writing songs or just to have fun.

This song, unlike many previous punk songs maintains a certain amount of ambiguity on many topics, whereas many songs written prior to this have a very direct message. The uncertainty in the narrator’s tone and usage of contradicting imagery is what differentiates this song from Strummer’s other work. As songwriter and radio presenter Tom Robinson described the song, ‘[The Clash] could afford to admit the contradictions that we all face’, and that pretty much sums up what Strummer was writing about.