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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright February 2023
I love the song Delilah. Don't you?
I'll join singing my heart out at games, pubs and just about anywhere when the song begins to play.
It's a catchy tune. You cannot avoid but to just join in at least during the chorus. Most of us would scream at the top of our lungs during the chorus 'Why Why Why Delilah!'
We might not know the rest of the lyrics but Delilah, well it's easy enough! It just flows like a national anthem embedded in your mind since it was first released in 1967 and topped the charts in 1968.
But it worries me. The song might soon be banned worldwide.
According to The Guardian, Welsh Rugby Union recently ordered the hit song Delilah by Tom Jones to be removed from its Principality Stadium choirs’ song list on the eve of the 2023 Six Nations meet.
The song is about a jealous lover who stabbed his "unfaithful paramour." Welsh fans apparently sing the song lustily at games like others do worldwide and has come to be regarded as an alternative sporting anthem said the Guardian.
But with the WRU reeling from allegations of a “toxic” culture and misogyny, the governing body has decided to ban the song because it promotes violence against women.
You never thought the song promotes violence until you ponder on the part where the lyric reads: “She stood there laughing/I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.”
But you don't think about violence when you sing the song at games, do you? It's just a fun catchy song to sing not thinking much of the lyric itself.
Anyway a Principality Stadium spokesperson said: “Delilah will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium. 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.”
Delilah and Green Green Grass of Home are two hits by Tom Jones that have been "a supporters’ favourite in the pre-match rituals of Welsh internationals down the years", says The Guardian.
The ban will likely raise hackles among fans like you and I who love the song to bits. But what worries me is a good stuff like this is being eroded away because someone has decided to kill off what is popular with the masses as a result of allegations of domestic violence "toxic” culture and misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia that have rocked WRU over the years.
The song Delilah is perceived to promote domestic violence and has to be banned. Other countries may soon follow Wales soon enough.
We will surely miss Delilah at our next rugby match and feel the emptiness standing on the bleachers with nothing to replace it.
Goodbye Delilah!
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