Delilah

"Delilah" was a song written by Les Reed, Barry Mason, and Sylvan Whittingham and recorded by Tom Jones in 1968.

Success

It reached No 1 in the charts of several countries including Germany and Switzerland.^[2] It reached No 2 in the British charts in March 1968 and was the sixth best selling single of that year.^[3] The US Billboard chart records its highest position as 15.^[4]

Overview

Jones narrates the song as a deceived lover who spies his woman in a silhouette on a window as she makes love to another man. Although he realizes that she is of no benefit to him, he goes temporarily insane. Waiting until after her paramour leaves, he knocks on the door to find her laughing and stabs her to death. Then he begs her forgiveness before the police come to take him away.

Inspiration

There have been several versions of the story or how the pop song Delilah came about but the truth is that it was Les Reed's idea to write a song about the Samson and Delilah biblical story. "But I was lost like a slave that no man could free" was the only line that alluded to the bible story when the lyric was completed, says Sylvan Whittingham. "Les supplied the music and the title and Barry and I completed the lyric from Les Reed's tape in two hours in the first floor office of Chappells Music Publishing in St George Street W1." The first demo recording of this song was entitled Iy Yi Yi Delilah and was sung by PJ Proby.

Cover versions

The song has also been covered many times 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 and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band whose single reached No 7 in the UK chart in 1975. In 1988 Delilah was covered by Paddy Goes To Holyhead. This version can be found on the 4CDbox "The Hannover Sessions" with The Sweet. The Finnish rock band The Lenningrad Cowboys also performed a version of this song at Total Balalaka 1993.

References