In an entry on his Q&A site Red Hand Files, the Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave recently shared his thoughts on music being "cancelled" or banned from certain spaces and platforms.

The Australian singer-songwriter said, "On some level, I like the fact that some songs are controversial enough to be outlawed."

On the Q&A page, Cave has been asked about his opinion on Tom Jones' classic track 'Delilah' being banned at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff recently for its lyrics relating to femicide.

The story behind the famous ballad traces a woman named Delilah who is fatally stabbed after her jealous husband discovers her flirting with another man. Later in the song, the husband pleads her corpse for forgiveness (yes, really).

One of Cave's fans called Tom, asked the musician: “As an artist who released a whole album of murder ballads, actually called Murder Ballads [1996], just how worried are you about your future cancellation, and what is your view on such censorship?”

Cave responded by explaining that he does like Jones as an artist but not like the song 'Delilah'. “I sang a duet with him ('Green, Green Grass Of Home' – a far superior murder balled) at a charity event a few years ago,“ he said.

"I like his version of 'Weeping Annaleah' which The Bad Seeds recorded on our Kicking Against The Pricks album,” Cave continued. “As someone who knows a thing or two about murder ballads, for my taste, [‘Delilah’ is] all too waltzy and strident and hammy and mariachi and triumphant. And the words are ugly – ‘I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more‘. Really?“

“So, I don’t know, Tom, I can’t get too animated by the fact that 'Delilah' has been banned,“ he added. "I understand there is a principle here, but on some level I like the fact that some songs are controversial enough to be outlawed. It fills me with a kind of professional pride to be a part of the sometimes contentious business of song-writing”.

He went on: “It’s cool. I like it. I just wish it was a more worthy song to be awarded that greatest of honours, indeed that supreme privilege, of being banned”.

Nick Cave at All Together Now 2022. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

'Delilah' will no longer be sung at Wales' national stadium by choirs hired for match entertainment. Furthermore, the song has been removed from the official playlists of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

"The WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind," a spokesperson for the Principality Stadium said in a statement." We have previously sought advice from subject matter experts on the issue of censoring the song, and we are respectfully aware that its subject matter is problematic and upsetting to some supporters."

To mark the 10th anniversary of their 15th studio album Push The Sky Away, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds have released a recording of a 2013 gig and launched a new website.

Last month, Cave confirmed that he had begun work on a new Bad Seeds album, sharing some early lyric ideas in the process.