Delilah (song)
| Delilah | |
|---|---|
| Tom Jones | |
| publication | 1968 |
| length | 3:20 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text | Barry Mason |
| music | Les Reed |
| Cover version | |
| 1975 | Alex Harvey |
Delilah is a 1968 song by Welsh singer Tom Jones , written by Barry Mason and Les Reed . It reached number 1 in the charts in Germany and Switzerland, number 2 in the British charts and number 15 in the US charts.
History of origin
Tom Jones' manager Gordon Mills wanted the singer to reach a wider audience through more commercial songs. With Green, Green Grass of Home (1967), there was an initial great success in this direction. The composer Les Reed had already written the title It's Not Unusual for Tom Jones together with Mills in 1964 ; together with Barry Mason, Delilah was created , which was originally intended for PJ Proby . In February 1968 the song appeared as interpreted by Tom Jones.
Structure and style
The text tells in the first person the story of a man who sees himself betrayed by his Delilah ( I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind ). Although he is aware that this woman is not right for him ( I could see that girl was no good for me ), he confronts her, and when she laughs at him, he loses his composure and stabs her ( I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more ). Aware of his crime, he does not flee, but expects his punishment and appeals to Delilah for forgiveness.
For the first-person ballads of tragic guilt, which often end in one's own death, there are some models such as El Paso by Marty Robbins (1959) and Streets of Laredo by Johnny Cash (1965), but also successors like I Did What I Did for Maria by Tony Christie (1971).
The song is in 3/4 time and has a tempo of 96 bpm . The verses are in A minor and orchestrated dramatically. Towards the refrain, the drama dissolves into a simple melody with the triad notes of C major (e'-c-g '). The refrain is accompanied by a two-part trumpet figure, mainly in thirds .
Cover versions
The song was covered by many other musicians, also in other styles, for example in 1975 by Alex Harvey , who was 7th in the UK charts. Peter Alexander's version was also successful in Germany (3rd place) and Austria (1st place) . The German text came from Kurt Feltz , who was also a producer. The German text was based almost exactly on the original, only the tragic ending was clearly defused.
A wild cover version can be found under the title De (That's All Right) Lilah on the album "Alive Behind The Green Door" by Flogging Molly , an Irish-American folk-punk-rock band.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Tom-Jones-Delilah/master/109769 discogs.com
- ↑ Swiss charts web site
- ↑ everyHit.com
- ^ Billboard web site
- ↑ http://www.greatscores.com/de/Delilah/sicherheit/1017723# Note example, select preview
- ↑ Peter Alexander at Charts.de
- ↑ http://hitparade.ch/song/Peter-Alexander/Delilah-11975