Jones later described the change as 'such bullshit'. When Jones performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show, the censors insisted that the line 'At break of day when the man drove away' be changed to 'At break of day I was still 'cross the way', as the original version implied he had spent the night with Delilah. He speaks of Delilah in possessive terms, but also refers to himself as her 'slave.' He asks his dead girlfriend to 'forgive' him, but still clearly sees himself as having been wronged by her. The lyrics unfold from the killer's point of view, and are filled with his, often contradictory, emotions. He stabs her to death, and then waits for the police to come break down the door and arrest him. He waits outside all night, and then confronts her in the morning, only to have her laugh in his face. The song tells the story of a man who passes his girlfriend's window and sees her inside making love to another man. Possibly, it was because of similarities to the plot of 'Carmen', in which Don José stabs Carmen to death when she tells him she is leaving him for another man. Flamenco was a surprising choice, since there is no reference to Spain anywhere in the song.

Produced by Peter Sullivan, Jones's version features a big-band accompaniment set to a flamenco rhythm. Although the song is a soulful number set in triple metre, the underlying genre may be considered to be a power ballad in the British ballad tradition.

Best tom jones songs