Delilah (Tom Jones song)


"Delilah" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Tom Jones in December 1967. The lyrics were written by Barry Mason, and the music by Les Reed, who also contributed the title and theme of the song. It earned Reed and Mason the 1968 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

Music and lyrics

Although the song is a soulful number set in triple metre, the underlying genre may be considered to be a power ballad in the British ballad tradition. Produced by Peter Sullivan, Jones's version features a big-band accompaniment set to a flamenco rhythm. The pitch of the final note is A4. Flamenco was a surprising choice, since there is no reference to Spain anywhere in the song. Possibly, it was because of similarities to the plot of "Carmen", in which Don José stabs Carmen to death when she tells him she is leaving him for another man.
The song tells the story of a man who passes his girlfriend's window and sees her inside making love to another man. He waits outside all night, and then confronts her in the morning, only to have her laugh in his face. He stabs her to death, and then waits for the police come to break down the door and arrest him. The lyrics unfold from the killer's point of view, and are filled with his, often contradictory, emotions. He speaks of Delilah in possessive terms, but also refers to himself as her "slave." He asks his dead girlfriend to "forgive" him, but still clearly sees himself as having been wronged by her.
When Jones performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show, the censors insisted that the line "At break of day when the man drove away" be changed to "At break of day I was still 'cross the way", as the original version implied he had spent the night with Delilah. Jones later described the change as "such bullshit".
In a 1986 court case, Mason's ex-wife Sylvan Whittingham, the daughter of Jack Whittingham, claimed she had written half the lyrics of "Delilah" and several other songs. The case was settled out of court. Though she has never been registered as the third writer of the song by the publishers, she is legally entitled to claim a writing credit. This has never been disputed by Reed and Mason.

Success

Tom Jones' recording reached No. 1 in the charts of several countries, including Germany and Switzerland. It reached No 2 in the British charts in March 1968 and was the sixth-best selling single of that year. The US Billboard chart records its highest position as 15.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

The song was originally recorded by P. J. Proby in late November 1967. Proby hated the song and refused to include it on his album Believe It Or Not, which was being compiled and recorded at the time. Proby's original version was released on the CD The Best Of The EMI Years..., in 2008.
The song has been covered by other artists, including a reggae cover by Horace Andy, the goth rock band Inkubus Sukkubus on their album Wild, the Irish American punk band Flogging Molly on their live album Alive Behind the Green Door, the Italian operatic pop group Il Volo on their album Grande Amore, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, whose single reached No. 7 in the UK chart in 1975. During the summer 1968 edition of the musical contest Cantagiro, the Italian singer Jimmy Fontana sang it with the title "La nostra favola". Country Dick Montana recorded it with the Pleasure Barons as part of a Tom Jones medley on their live album Pleasure Barons Live in Las Vegas. Romanian singer Margareta Pâslaru covered the song for her 1968 album release, with the lyrics being written in Romanian by her.
It was covered in 1978 by Filipino singer and artist Sam Sorono on his Sings Tom Jones' Greatest Hits LP album on EMI Records. Austrian singer Peter Alexander recorded a German cover on his 1985 album Ein Abend Mit Dir. In 1988 "Delilah" was covered by Paddy Goes To Holyhead. This version can be found on the 4-CD box The Hannover Sessions with Sweet. The Finnish rock band Leningrad Cowboys also performed a version of this song on the live album Total Balalaika. American band Faith No More covered a snippet of the song during their Second Coming Tour.
Korean girl group Mamamoo performed an English and Korean version of the song on an episode on Immortal Song 2 in 2015.

Miscellaneous uses

Rugby

fans have sung "Delilah" as an unofficial anthem since at least as early as the 1970s; it was referred to in the lyrics of one of the verses of Max Boyce's "Hymns and Arias": "We sang 'Cwm Rhondda' and 'Delilah', damn they sounded both the same". Tom Jones performed it before Wales's rugby victory over England at Wembley Stadium in 1999. As of 2003, the Welsh Rugby Union played the song in Millennium Stadium before matches; the words to the song were shown on the big screens and the crowd sang along.
In 2014, Dafydd Iwan, former president of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, called for Welsh rugby supporters to stop singing "Delilah" at matches, asserting that the song "trivialise the idea of murdering a woman". Jones dismissed Iwan's claims, stating: "I don’t think are really thinking about it … If it’s going to be taken literally, I think it takes the fun out of it." Prior to the 2016 Six Nations Championship rugby tournament, Welsh MP Chris Bryant claimed that the song was about the murder of a prostitute, and requested that the song not be sung by Welsh rugby fans as the lyrics glorify violence towards women. Co-writer Sylvan Whittingham rejected the claim, saying: "The reason there is more domestic violence after rugby matches is because men have been drinking... It's not anything to do with Delilah."

Association Football

Supporters of Stoke City adopted "Delilah" as their club anthem in the 1990s. It was adopted by the fans after a supporter was heard singing it in a local pub. Some of the song's original lyrics were adapted for the football terraces, but the essence of the song remained the same.

Film

The song featured in the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands. In the 2005 film Romance and Cigarettes, the original recording plays on a jukebox while Christopher Walken sings along and mimes the action. In the 2013 film American Hustle, the song plays at a bar while Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner sing along. The chorus of the song was referenced in the movie Hercules Returns.

TV

In the "Stage Fright" episode of Only Fools and Horses, Tony Angelino, the
Singing Dustman, is seen performing the song during his performance at the Down by the Riverside Club.
In the "Homer the Heretic" episode of The Simpsons, Homer sings the chorus while showering, seemingly pleased with himself for getting out of going to church.
In the 14th episode of Raising Hope, "What Up, Cuz?", the song appears in a flashback showing the young Virginia Chance with her cousin Delilah.
In the first episode of the 2012 British comedy series Citizen Khan, Khan sings the song over the mosque speakers, much to the amusement of several fellow worshippers.

Music

According to Philip Norman's 2001 biography of Elton John, John provided background vocals on this song.
On 4 June 2012 Jones performed the song for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert.