Delilah ‘dies’ at hands of Welsh rugby bosses
‘Problematic’ unofficial fan anthem is banned by WRU after consulting domestic violence charities
‘It’s a pity these words have been elevated to the status of a secondary national anthem. I think we should rummage round for a new song’
FOR decades, Delilah has been sung at the home of Welsh rugby.
But Sir Tom Jones’s popular ballad will no longer be belted out by fans at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff after the Welsh Rugby Union banned it.
Officials said the song, which has become an unofficial anthem of Welsh rugby, was “problematic” because its lyrics describe a man stabbing his unfaithful lover. In the most dramatic verse, Sir Tom sings: “She stood there laughing/i felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.”
The WRU said it had taken advice from domestic violence charities and Delilah would no longer be sung at the stadium. A Principality Stadium spokesman said: “Delilah will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium. The WRU removed the song from its halftime 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.”
However, the WRU will be powerless to stop fans singing it. As recently as 2020, the Treorchy Male Voice Choir performed the song before a Six Nations match. The London Welsh Male Voice Choir was to have sung it before Saturday’s opener against Ireland but Calon Lan, by Luke Evans, will feature instead.
The ban was prompted earlier this week when ITV Wales News showed the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choice rehearsing the song before Wales’s match against England on Feb 25.
Sources indicated that the footage – recorded on Sunday – spooked Welsh rugby officials, who then instructed their enlisted choirs to drop the ballad.
The move comes after allegations emerged last week of sexism, racism and misogyny at the WRU. Steve Phillips, its chief executive, resigned and Ieuan Evans, its chairman, promised an external investigation into the claims.
There were calls to ban it in 2014 and 2015, with Dafydd Iwan, the former Plaid Cymru president, saying it “trivialised” the murder of a woman.
“It’s a pity that these words have been elevated to the status of a secondary national anthem. I think that we should rummage around for another song instead of Delilah,” he said at the time.
Sir Tom has defended the song, which he performed during a concert at the Principality Stadium last summer. “It’s not political. It’s about a man just losing it,” the star said in 2014. “I love to hear it sung … it makes me very proud to be Welsh.
“The great thing about the song I think that everyone picks up on is the chorus, I don’t think that they are really thinking about it.
“If it’s going to be taken literally it takes the fun out of it. I think it takes the spirit out of why it’s being sung.”
News of the ban prompted uproar on social media. Louis Rees-zammit, the Wales wing who will miss the opening two Six Nations rounds due to injury, tweeted cryptically: “All the things they need to do and they do that first…”
In 2020, the Rugby Football Union resisted calls to ban Swing Low, Sweet Chariot from Twickenham after reviewing whether the song, with its origins in American slavery, was appropriate.
England’s governing body concluded that the ballad had “a long-held place in rugby history” and that the union would “pro-actively educate fans on the history and provenance of the song as well as providing platforms for diverse voices across the game”.
Wales kick off the Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday, then face England at home in round three, alongside trips to Rome, Edinburgh and Paris.
Delilah reached number two in the British charts in March 1968.