Welsh musician Sir Tom Jones called out on the decision to ban his song ‘Delilah’, from being sung at Wales’ rugby matches. The 83-year-old spoke out against the ban, as he addressed the crowd during in a recent performance at Cardiff Castle.
The WRU decided in February, that ‘Delilah’ would not be sung by the choirs at the Principality Stadium, due to the problematic lyrics depicting a woman’s murder at the hands of her partner. The lyrics in question are:
“At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting
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”
Sources including the BBC and the Telegraph report that Sir Tom said; “You can’t stop us singing ‘Delilah’. Can you imagine? Who was the man who didn’t want us to sing ‘Delilah’?”
The musician reportedly added: “They may stop the choir from singing it, but they haven’t stopped the crowd. Keep on singing it – and I’ll keep on singing it too.”
Despite being taken off the playlist for Rugby Choirs as far back as 2015, Delilah was officially banned in February 2023. A statement from the Principality Stadium from that same month read:
At the time, the Principality Stadium said: “Delilah will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium.
“Guest choirs have also more recently been requested not to feature the song during their pre-match performances and throughout games.
“The WRU [Welsh Rugby Union] 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.”