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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should some songs never be sung again?

363 replies

Atethehalloweenchocs · 31/01/2023 21:57

I was at a social event where there was various songs which we were singing along to. One of which was Delilah. Obviously the content is abhorrent, but its a banger of a tune, and something that loads of people know. The day after, found an old playlist with a bunch of Michael Jackson stuff on. AIBU to think it is ok to sing along to a song with a good tune even if the content or artist is problematic?

OP posts:
OneGoodThing · 02/02/2023 14:19

the 'bad thing' about Young Girl is more the 'ooh, you're such a lolita, good job I'm a moral sort of guy' tone than the literal lyrics. There's a gruesome 'ah, if only' feel to proceedings.

Living Doll would be positively sinister if it was sung by any one other than Cliff Richard. He's 'got a roaming eye/and that is why/she satisfies my soul'? Yeah, right, Cliff. Back in your trunk.

pam290358 · 02/02/2023 14:48

piggypoole · 01/02/2023 21:49

Look up the lyrics

Show quote history

‘Get Down’ is a worse one. Talking about his partner like she’s a dog !!

ScribblingPixie · 02/02/2023 15:16

Delilah has a great tune and chorus, the words in the verses should be changed, if it was racist or against men it would have never seen daylight.

'I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die' in Fulsome Prison Blues is considered to be a fantastic lyric. Not sure that would be the case if the word was woman.

Original poster
Atethehalloweenchocs · 02/02/2023 22:57

Ok, its not just me

www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/01/delilah-welsh-rugby-union-choirs-banned-from-singing-tom-jones-hit

OP posts:
ancientgran · 03/02/2023 08:32

I suppose we all hear the same thing but interpret it differently. To me Delilah is a lament, it isn't glorifying violence. The man has lost his mind, I think some countries refer to it as a crime of passion, done something terrible, a woman is dead and he is waiting for "them" to break down the door and face his punishment. I assume the punishment is prison but at the time I thought he was going to be executed as if I remember correctly there had been a pause to executions in the UK at the time and it was abolished in 1969, I think Delilah was released in 67 or 68.

gogohmm · 03/02/2023 08:37

@Ponoka7

The difference is that jagger openly admitted he never checked their age. They were in nightclubs supposedly over 18 or 21 venues but later found out they had lied about their ages. No grooming no coercion.

Is it right in retrospect? No but these were different times and it was consensual

ancientgran · 03/02/2023 08:46

gogohmm · 03/02/2023 08:37

@Ponoka7

The difference is that jagger openly admitted he never checked their age. They were in nightclubs supposedly over 18 or 21 venues but later found out they had lied about their ages. No grooming no coercion.

Is it right in retrospect? No but these were different times and it was consensual

I bet he was very careful not to check the age of a 13 year old child.

ReneBumsWombats · 03/02/2023 11:22

Jagger is very good at not checking facts when it suits him. Ages, the validity of marriage ceremonies...

He has always been a colossal knob though and he hasn't improved with age. He's not a very good singer either, which is what's really galling.

ICantFoolMyself · 03/02/2023 14:48

I've heard Delilah hundreds of times and just vaguely sing along with it.

This post has made me Google the lyrics in their entirety.

Shocking!!!

ICantFoolMyself · 03/02/2023 15:01

Used to have Lindy hop lessons and would dance to this song a lot.

I love the song (perhaps because of the memories it brings back of my lessons) but the words really aren't appropriate ...

"Go find the guy that beat you up, ask him to take you back"

SecretPeston · 03/02/2023 19:24

Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon - vile and creepy.

duc748 · 03/02/2023 20:47

Atethehalloweenchocs · 02/02/2023 22:57

I find it quite funny, though, that the WRU are desperately searching for the high moral, when they were in the news just the other over some pretty shoddy behaviour. The fans will sing what they like, of course.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64518300

duc748 · 03/02/2023 20:48

high moral ground.

howmanybicycles · 05/02/2023 00:28

Songs, like books' , tell stories. They are not self help books or instruction manuals doe a good life. Delilah tells the story of a man murdering his partner in a fit of rage. If we shouldn't listen to it, I don't think we should read any murder mystery books. Or watch any murder mysteries on the telly come to think of it.

duc748 · 05/02/2023 00:36

Agreed. The attempt to try to 'be kind' here looks pretty lame when bigger issues are in play.

TheBigWangTheory · 05/02/2023 15:33

Are the people arguing for banning Delilah under the impression that its actually advocating for killing your wife, or that its a great thing?

NewspaperTaxis · 05/02/2023 19:22

piggypoole · 01/02/2023 21:31

Don't hear under my thumb anymore

Not even this version.

Siameasy · 06/02/2023 08:04

I listen to Under My Thumb a fair bit. Really like the song; songs are time capsules. It’s an insight into society at the time. I don’t agree with erasing history. The sentiment of the song was considered normal at the time according to my mum and if any of us had been her age then (20s), we likely would’ve not noticed it.

NewspaperTaxis · 06/02/2023 18:50

Jagger's version had a kind of mock misogyny - he knows he's being outrageous, he's the peacock displaying his feathers and him being so camp about it alters the tone. The clip I posted I find funny because all that nuance on a knife-edge is gone - it's a Northern lad wanting his tea on the table the moment he comes in, straight out of Shirley Valentine.

ReneBumsWombats · 06/02/2023 20:50

There's nothing mock or ironic about Jagger's misogyny. He's a huge bellend and always has been.

WinterFoxes · 07/02/2023 09:22

When DS2 was a toddler he used to talk about 'my other planet where I come from, where everything was red'. I wondered if it was a memory from the womb. Or maybe he is an alien.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/02/2023 09:33

WinterFoxes · 07/02/2023 09:22

When DS2 was a toddler he used to talk about 'my other planet where I come from, where everything was red'. I wondered if it was a memory from the womb. Or maybe he is an alien.

Wrong thread?
Although I would like to know what thread you were intending to post in. It sounds interesting.

sashh · 10/02/2023 05:35

I've just skimmed the thread since my last post. But can anyone else remember a 10 year old Lisa Zavaroni?

Ma!
Ma, he's making eyes at me
Ma, he's awfully nice to me
Ma, he's almost breaking my heart
He's beside me
Mercy!
Let my conscience guide me!
Ma, he wants to marry me
Oh, be my honey bee
Every minute he gets bolder
Now he's leaning on my shoulder
Ma, he's kissing me
Ma, he's making eyes at me
Ma, he's awfully nice to me
Ma, he's almost breakin' my heart
He's beside me
Mercy!
Let my conscience guide me!
Ma, he wants to marry me
Be my honey bee
Every minute he gets bolder
Now he's leaning on my shoulder
Ma, he's kissing me
Ma, he's kissing me

Clawdy · 10/02/2023 08:15

I remember little Lena Zavaroni , and at the time people were saying what a pity they couldn't find more suitable songs for a child. She had such a sad life.

notacooldad · 10/02/2023 14:31

But can anyone else remember a 10 year old Lisa Zavaroni?
Yeah I remember her.
I used to get annoyed as I looked like the double of her from being a child and an adult. Everyone commented on it and it drove me nuts!