Nick Cave admits he likes “the fact that some songs are controversial and outlawed”.
Reacting to the news that Sir Tom Jones’ classic “Delilah” was banned from being sung at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, with lyrics about a woman being killed by her jealous husband, he actually revealed that it wasn’t… like the song in the first place.
In a Q&A on the Red Hand Files website, he said:
“It’s like professional pride to be involved in the sometimes controversial task of songwriting. Cool. That’s good.”
“I wish the song was more deserving of the highest honor, the highest privilege of being banned.”
Nick praised the “Sex Bomb” hitmaker, but insisted he wasn’t a fan of “Delilah.”
he wrote: I mean, I like Tom Jones. I sang a duet with him at his event for charity a few years ago (‘Green, Green Grass of Home’ – much better Murder Bullet). Against the P***** album.
Nick, who released his own Murder Ballads album in 1996, admitted that the song won the Ivor Novello Songwriting Award in 1968, but insisted it was still “a bit of a sucker.”
“As someone who knows a little about murder ballads, for my taste, it’s waltz, jarring, hammy, mariachi, and triumphant.
“And the words are ugly – ‘I felt the knife in my hand, but she didn’t smile anymore’.”
“Really? The worst part is that not even The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, could do anything about this.
“Let’s not forget, the one-of-a-kind Australian comic, Norman Gunston, also created a very funny parody in the late ’70s that at least made you laugh.”