The Tom Jones classic wasn’t sung by the choir at Principality Stadium ahead of Six Nations rugby match, but what do fans in Cardiff think?
When Wales faced Ireland in last week’s opening match of the Six Nations, there was one subject on everyone’s mind: what to do about Delilah?
The official choir had been banned from singing the song but fans were in no mood to ditch the classic that Tom Jones took to number 2 in the charts in 1967.
The song had been banned because of its association with sexism and domestic violence, a move that came following the resignation of WRU chief executive Steve Phillips amid allegations of a toxic culture characterized by sexism and misogyny.
The fact that fans still belted out the song came as no surprise to lecturer Timothy Lyon. “I think if rugby authorities try to ban the song, it will probably encourage more people to sing it during matches. So, I’m not really sure if a ban will be effective,” said Tim.
“It is important to be aware of messages that trivialize or normalize violence, but an outright ban may set a precedent that leads to oppressive censorship,” said Tim. “Encouraging people to think critically about popular culture is a better solution, but probably much harder to implement than banning the song.”
“The song depicts the murder of a woman by a jealous partner, It’s time to sing something else,” said Dr. Richard Lewis in his tweet.
Different points of views were put forward and people fought over the ban on social media with the debate revolving around sexism and whether the culture of prohibition should be allowed to run its course.
And 82-year-old singer Sir Tom Jones has announced that he will be performing at Cardiff Castle this July, and Delilah is included in his setlist.
“The song is sort of trivializing domestic violence and the murder of women. By it just being sung at rugby matches, a normalizing something that shouldn’t be normal,” said Emily Cadman, a 26-year-old Welsh girl. “So I can understand why people want to ban it.”
“And I think at the end of the day if you’re gonna go home and beat up your wife or your girlfriend, you would be doing that anyway. You wouldn’t be doing it because you were listening and singing the Tom Jones song,” said Emily.
Aside from the domestic violence in Delilah’s lyrics, it’s this culture of prohibition that has many people outraged. After the ban, more people sang the song louder in the streets and pubs on the day of the Six Nations rugby match.
Tom Jones is a very famous Welsh singer. He has won the Grammy Award for Best Newcomer, the MTV Video Music Award, and two Brit Awards. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding contributions to music.
Emily said, “Tom Jones, the person who wrote the song, is like a national treasure to Welsh people. So, everyone knows who Tom Jones is.”
Here are some more popular songs that should be known and sung as Delilah’s ‘replacement’.
