A Cardiff pub said it will play the song Delilah "loud" and "on a loop" on the first day of the Six Nations. The Old Arcade in the city centre was responding to the Welsh Rugby Union's announcement that it had removed the tune from its Principality Stadium choirs' playlist.
Sir Tom Jones' 1968 hit, about a jealous lover stabbing his unfaithful partner, reached number two in the charts before going on to become a Welsh favourite among the rugby-loving public and a fixture in the Principality Stadium and its predecessors on matchdays. But its place in modern society has been debated in recent years, with one line of the lyrics reading “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.”
Ahead of the Wales v Ireland game in the capital on Saturday (February 4), the Old Arcade wrote on social media: "We will be playing Delilah. It will be loud. It will be on a loop." The post received more than 200 likes and comments, with most people commenting in support the move. The pub later took the post down.
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The WRU's decision to ban the iconic song came after a damning week which saw it come under intense criticism amid allegations of a "toxic" culture and misogyny. A Principality Stadium spokesperson said earlier this week: “Delilah will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium. The WRU removed the song from its half-time entertainment and music play list 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 because of its subject matter.”
But the WRU announcement has received a huge backlash, with Piers Morgan among those ridiculing the decision. Many WalesOnline readers condemned the move, with one writing: "People aren't singing it because of what the song is about, they are singing it because it's a belter of a song to sing together.
"I bet 90% of the people who sing it don't know what the song is about but they sing it in unison because it gives the feel good factor. Keep singing it rugby fans, I'm no Tom Jones fan but the atmosphere you get singing in the stadium is something us Welsh are proud of."
On Thursday, Dyfed-Powys Police chief constable Richard Lewis backed the WRU move, saying: "The song depicts the murder of a woman by a jealous partner For context, approx 2 women a week are murdered by a partner or ex-partner. It’s time to sing something else."
On the same day, Richard Marx performed the song at a gig in Cardiff and told the crowd banning it wasn't the best way to tackle domestic violence. The Old Arcade declined to comment about their post on social media and deleted it soon after we called them. A spokesperson for pub operator Marston's, which owns the Old Arcade, said: "The Old Arcade control their own play list tomorrow, as they always do on match days, and that is usually in response to what the supporters ask for."
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