Who/What is the White Man in Hammersmith Palais?
[sup]referring to the Clash song from their first album[/sup]
"I’m the all night drug-prowling wolf
Who looks so sick in the sun
I’m the white man in the Palais
Just lookin’ for fun"
As Hammersmith Palais is a club in London I think that Joe Strummer was referring to himself. It may carry some deeper meaning too but don’t ask me.
My recollection is that Joe Strummer wrote the song after attending a reggae concert and realizing he was one of the few white folks there.
In the sense that Strummer knew it, not any more.