WHY, WHY, WHY CHA NGE THE LYRICS TO DELILAH?

1 MP CALLS FOR A BAN ON DELILAH

A leading Labour MP in Britain is calling for a ban at rugby games of the Tom Jones song Delilah because he claims it’s about killing a prostitute. The ballad, which won an Ivor Novello award for its writers, was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1968 for the Welsh singer Jones.

2 UNOFFICIAL WELSH RUGBY ANTHEM

The song has become an unofficial anthem for the Welsh rugby

team and is sung before each match. But House of Commons shadow leader Chris Bryant is calling for its ban because of the

domestic violence overtones. In the song, a man confronts an unfaithful lover and it goes on: “She stood there laughing / I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more / My, my, my, Delilah / Why, why, why Delilah.”

3 ‘ WE HAVE TO CHANGE HOW WE DO THINGS’

“I know that some people will say, ‘ Oh, here we go, he’s a terrible spoilsport,’ but the truth is that that song is about the murder of a prostitute,” said Bryant. “I have sung Delilah as well — everybody loves doing the ‘ She stood there laughing’ moment — but if we are really going to take this issue seriously in Wales, we have to change how we do things.”

4 SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDY

Bosses at the Welsh Rugby Union have defended the song — by comparing it to Shakespearean tragedies like Romeo and Juliet. A spokesman said: “Within rugby, Delilah has gained prominence through its musicality rather than because of its lyrics. There is however plenty of precedent in art and literature, prominently in Shakespearean tragedies for instance, for negative aspects of life to be portrayed.”