The Ballad of Tom Jones - Space feat Cerys Matthews

[Earth-Angel]

Cerys Matthews of Welsh band Catatonia is such a huge fan of fellow Welsh crooner Tom Jones, she wrote a ballad about him in a mock scenario of how his voice saves her life.

On her way to a Tom Jones concert, she felt the deep contractions of oncoming labour. Such was her adoration for the singer, she immediately called him up and let him know her firstborn son would be named after him.

Featured as a single, she recorded "The Balled of Tom Jones" with another British band Space, released on March 3 1998.

She later collaborated with Jones himself for a rendition of "Baby it's cold outside".

Tom Jones became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the British Invasion. Since the mid-'60s, Jones has sung nearly every form of popular music -- pop, rock, show tunes, country, dance, and techno, he's sung it all. His actual style -- a full-throated, robust baritone that had little regard for nuance and subtlety -- never changed, he just sang over different backing tracks. On stage, Jones played up his sexual appeal; it didn't matter whether he was in an unbuttoned shirt or a tuxedo, he always radiated a raw sexuality, which earned him a large following of devoted female fans who frequently threw underwear on stage. Jones' following never diminished over the decades; he was able to exploit trends, earning new fans while retaining his core following.

[Key: T-Tommy (Space), C-Cerys, CT-Both]

T - What did I do wrong?

C - Oh, you nearly drove me cuckoo

T - I am really all that bad?

C - You're worse than Hannibal Lecter, Charlie Manson, Freddy Krueger

T - Why are we still together?

C - Oh, I can't leave you till you're dead

T - You mean till death do us part

C - I mean like cyanide, strangulation or an axe through your head

T - It was lucky for us I turned the radio on

C - They say that music soothes the savage beast

T - There was something in that voice that stopped us seeing red

CT - The two of us would've surely have ended up dead

[chorus]

CT - You stopped us from killing each other (Tom Jones, Tom Jones)

CT - You'll never know but you saved our lives (Tom Jones, Tom Jones)

C - I've never thrown my knickers at you

T - And I don't come from Wales

T - Still haven't solved our problems

C - You mean we hate each other's guts

T - Still want to poison your pizza

C - And I still want to cut off your nads

T - I've phoned the marriage guidance

C - I've tied the phone-line round your neck

T - I'm sick of all this hatred

C - Oh, that'll be the arsenic making you sick

T - You were about to drive me over the edge of a cliff

C - As I tried to jump out I knocked the stereo on

T - You changed your mind and then slammed on the brakes

CT - It was lucky for us we bought his greatest hits

[chorus]

C - And now our war is over

T - I've lost the urge to break your neck

C - I owe my life to What's New Pussycat

T - Delilah stopped me hating you and wishing you're dead

C - Oh, I used to call Satan

T - I called you Cruella de Ville

C - But now you call me your Delilah

T - And now i'm not your Lucifer

C - And I am just a pussycat

T - But just a word of warning now

C - Just in case we ever get tired of his voice

T - I know the Mafia, Godzilla, King Kong

C - And I know an atom bomb that's going for a song

[chorus] x2

Quotations from VH1.com