Tom Jones defies backlash to perform iconic song again | Music | Entertainment

For over 55 years anyone hearing the unapologetically OTT song Delilah has joined in on the epic chorus. Just a few years ago, Sir Tom Jones belted out the song to the entire nation at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations outside Buckingham Palace -watched by princes Harry, Andrew and Edward along with Sophie Wessex. Royals and the massed crowds alike yelled along with him to the refrain, “My, my, my, Delilah!” The star himself has spoken of his pride in the number, saying “I love to hear it sung at rugby games. It makes me very proud to be Welsh.” So what’s the problem?

It’s probable that most of us know most of the opening lines, “I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window
I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind.” Pause for deep breath and then the big, “She was my woman…”

It’s what happens later that’s the problem. The song tells the story of a betrayed man taking his revenge on his cheating girlfriend. And recently people have been looking closer at just how graphic it is.

Back in 2015 The Welsh Rugby Union removed Delilah from its half-time music playlist and then a full ban shocked fans last month.

The Welsh Rugby Union has now banned fans from singing the song at all during any of their matches. An official statement said: “The WRU removed the song from its half-time entertainment and music playlist during international matches in 2015. Guest choirs have also more recently been requested not to feature the song during their pre-match performances and throughout games.

‘The WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind. We have previously sought advice from subject-matter experts on the issue of censoring the song and we are respectfully aware that it is problematic and upsetting to some supporters because of its subject matter.”

The problem stems from the second half of the song when it is revealed the furious spurned lover is holding a knife and what happens next.

The song goes: “I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door. She stood there laughing. I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.”

Sir Tom himself previously spoke about the shocking themes in the song: “I love to hear it sung at rugby games. It makes me very proud to be Welsh.

“I think if they’re looking into the lyric about a man killing a woman, it’s not a political statement. It’s just something that happens in life [and] he just loses it. The great thing about the song that everyone picks up on is the chorus. I don’t think that they are really thinking about it.”

And now, the legend is said to be “shocked” by the latest outrage and backlash over the song.

However, it has been reported that, so far, Sir Tom will not be removing the controversial song from his repertoire.

He last performed Delilah at the Welsh Rugby Union’s home at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in 2022.

According to The Daily Mail, The Welsh superstar is slated to perform the number this summer at his first major show in Wales in twenty years when he takes to the stage at Cardiff Castle on July 21.

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