My 2006 Macbook won't start up completely. It gets to the white screen but wont go further. What do I have to do to fix the issue?

I was syncing my ipod to my itunes and the computer froze up. So I used the force shutdown by holding the power button. I then tried to turn it back on but when I did, it would play the chime and bring up the blank white screen before it shows the apple, but it won't go any further than that. Theres alot of clicking going on this whole time as well. The clicking had started while my ipod was syncing. I keep the computer on a cooling pad so i dont think heat had anything to do with it. I shut it down everytime I get off of it, so its not left on for long periods of time either (and i let it power down before closing the laptop).

I have pushed Alt-Command-P-R to get to the Pram, but my computer still does nothing. I've removed the battery a few times and held down the power button until the beep. Nothing seems to be working. Does anyone know what I have to do?