• Tom Jones song ‘trivialises the idea of murdering a woman’ • Welsh Rugby Union not expected to ban song

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Welsh rugby fans have been urged to stop singing the popular Tom Jones hit Delilah because of its controversial lyrics.

Former Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Iwan has called on supporters at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to find something else to sing, claiming the 1968 song “trivialises the idea of murdering a woman”.

The song includes the lyrics: “At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting.

“I cross 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.”

Iwan, who held his senior role with Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, from 2003 to 2010, is also a folk singer.

Quoted in several national newspapers, he said: “It is a song about murder and it does tend to trivialise the idea of murdering a woman and it’s a pity these words now have been elevated to the status of a secondary national anthem. I think we should rummage around for another song instead of Delilah.”

The Welsh Rugby Union appears disinclined to ban the song, with a spokesman quoted by the South Wales Evening Post as saying: “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.

“The Welsh Rugby Union condemns violence against women and has taken a lead role in police campaigns to highlight and combat the issue.

“The WRU remains willing to listen to any strong public debate on the issue of censoring the use of Delilah but we have not been aware of any groundswell of opinion on this matter.”

Delilah, written by Les Reed, Barry Mason and Sylvan Whittingham, tells of an opportunistic killing by a man, who waits until his former partner’s lover leaves her home before making his move.

The song is also commonly sung by supporters of the Premier League football club Stoke.