TO BE fair to former Plaid Cymru President Dafydd Iwan, I haven't seen a quote from him calling for an outright ban on the singing of Delilah at international rugby matches.

Or any kind of confirmation that he's spearheading some kind of campaign against the song.

In fact, the original article from which Iwan's comments are taken was published anonymously on a Welsh language Christian blog site, Cristnogaeth 21, a month ago.

The folk singer later confirmed to Welsh language magazine Golwg he had written the piece - the idea being to start people thinking about the nature of its lyrics.

He questioned "the need to ask seriously whether Delilah should be recognised, as this is our main national arena" .

Iwan added: "The Welsh connection of course is that it is recorded by Tom Jones, and that is the only Welsh identity and belonging. But have you ever considered the words? Story simple enough - he sees Delilah in the arms of another man, knocks on the door in the morning and stabs her to death....Should this be sung, in all honesty, at an international match between two hymns?"

He called on supporters at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to find something else to sing, claiming the 1968 Tom Jones hit “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 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.”

I've sat in the Millennium Stadium at a Wales v England match in the past and watched a group of the scariest women from Llanelli you could meet - smelling of beer, dressed as miners, swearing in ways dockers could only imagine - sing this song, unburdened by any doubts about the nature of its lyrics.

Any idea that a ban of any sort could be imposed on the crowd at the stadium singing Delilah would probably enrage them to the sort of foul linguistic heights which would burn off your granny's ears.

But there is a point in here, isn't there?

The point being that people are singing this stuff in an unthinking fashion.

They aren't making some clever kind of Shakespearian statement about tragedy - whatever comparisons have been made in the media to works like Othello.

A Welsh Rugby Union spokesman said: “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.”

This is what Sir Tom had to say about it: "I think if they're looking into the lyric about a man killing a woman, it's not a political statement. It's just something that happens in life that it's a woman was unfaithful to him and he just loses it."

Oh dear....not helping, Tom, not helping.

He went on: "The great thing about the song that everyone picks up on is the chorus. I don't think that they are really thinking about it.

"I wasn't thinking that I was the man that was killing the girl when I was singing the song, I was acting out the part and that's what the song is.

"If it's going to be taken literally like that then I think it takes the fun out of it. I think it takes the spirit out why it's being sung."

Hmm. There are plenty of songs we used to sing without thinking which we would no longer countenance singing.

The song has, seemingly, existed until now in a place elevated from its subject matter, Welsh by adoption rather than inception.

Delilah was written by Les Reed, Barry Mason and Sylvan Whittingham. Years ago, I interviewed Northerner Mr Mason who revealed that, thankfully, no woman had died as the inspiration for this song - but he said it was born out of jealousy towards a former girlfriend. A jealous fantasy.

So while few of us would support a ban on its singing, it is right that we should be thinking about its lyrics. It cannot exist in a vacuum.

The difference between the singing of Delilah and someone going to see Othello is this: no one goes to see Othello unthinkingly, not understanding the horror of someone murdering his wife in a fit of jealousy.