| Regina Spektor – Samson Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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In this retake on the Biblical allegory of betrayal, Spektor is being a revisionist. What she means by the Bible doesn't mention "us" is that the Bible doesn't mention how they truly loved each other. The Bible only discusses Delilah's betrayal of Sampson, not her genuine love for him (or the full measure Sampson's love for her). Spektor is saying that the story of their romance is not fully told in the Bible, but "Beneath the sheets of paper lies [the] truth." Delilah loved Sampson first... but the betrayal did follow. The Bible depicts Delilah as a person who is merely deceiving Sampson, for 1,100 pieces of Philistines silver, but Delilah's love is never broached. According to Spektor's lyrics, the Bible fails to mention that when Sampson and Delilah first met, and Sampson fell in love with Delilah at the Brook of Sorek, and before the Philistines offered her the silver, there was sufficient time for Delilah to also fall in love with Sampson. And we know by Spektor's lyrics that Delilah was impacted by Sampson's words: "Samson came to my bed Told me that my hair was red Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed" Spektor is saying that Delilah was like any other woman, who would respond to the beauty of Sampson's tender expression of love in words. Spektor is arguing in her lyrics that it's just as feasible that Delilah loved Sampson, even with the impending betrayal... the love came first. We also know that Spektor is revising the story because she claims that Delilah cuts Sampson's hair, which isn't in the Bible. In the Bible, it's a servant that does the cutting. However, Delilah did betray Sampson (which isn't denied by Spektor), as people sometimes betray those they love. It's the very confusing thing about human nature; our duality. We can express more than one feeling about any given thing, or any person. We can love people, yet, we can do awful things to the people we love. That is Delilah's downfall; she loved and she betrayed. That is the common downfall for many of us. Romances, even where loves still lives, are filled with betrayal and unnecessary sadness. But we are human, with feet of clay. Before the betrayal... "[Delilah] loved him first." And that was her "sweetest downfall", her betrayal of him. However, as someone else mentioned, Sampson, in his unconditional love, forgives Delilah; an acknowledgement of the imperfection of people, but the perfection of the love itself and it's infinite ability to forgive. We hold the vows of love and passion up so high, however, and we are often unable to forgive people we love... in spite of love's wishes. It's why we are so conflicted when someone we love betrays us; the purest part of our love says forgive, but our pride sometimes wins out in this eternal battle between love and pride. The mention of Sampson eating Wonderbread, denotes a sense of Sampson's commonness following his hair being cut. After his hair was gone, he was reduced to an ordinary man; no superhuman strength; unable to pull the columns down. (However, as the Old Testament state, Sampson later pray to God for his strength back to exact punishment back upon the Philistines for plucking his eyes out.) In a way, Spektor gives us a novel dimension of Sampson, which is that once his hair was cut, he was just an average guy, but even an ordinary guy in love is capable of forgiveness: "And he told me that I'd done alright And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light" In the Old Testament, nothing is said of what became of Delilah. But perhaps her fate was cast with Sampson's... "[Oh, How the innocent are bound to the damned" (Citizen by Broken Bells)]... "Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads", which is not to say that Delilah actually dies with Sampson beneath the Philistines temple pillars, but in her heart, she dies a 1,100 deaths, of regret. Perhaps Spektor is revealing a wish shared by Delilah, that Sampson hadn't died, "Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down... Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one." And what is interesting here, is that she says "we couldn't destroy..." meaning she holds herself responsible for Sampson's apparent death wish. Spektor's revisionary tale, seeks to rewrite the act of betrayal. She retells an allegory where pure love, can sometimes overcome betrayal. We can forgive others if we put our love before our pride. In this way, Spektor's revision is a wistful, and contrite, retelling of a real story of love; a damaged love, where betrayal, forgiveness, and the lingering regret of a life, and a love, lived imperfectly, is played out before us in song. And in its Wonderbread, "white bread", commonness, we can all relate to pure love, where it can overcome our pride... where forgiveness and love are companions on the same journey shared by two people lucky enough to discover their soul-mate. Btw, this isn't about a cancer patient. Wonderbread isn't therapeutic for chemo. The dietary recommendation for chemo is a healthy diet. The cells in the intestines replicate quickly, so they are most vulnerable to chemo. And Wonderbread isn't going to make a difference. Diarrhea is going to happen with or without the bread. |
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| Regina Spektor – Samson Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| While Sampson and Delilah are both biblical figures, the story of Sampson's hair being cut, and the story of the relationship between the two, are not in the bible. This story is told in the Book of Judges, in the Hebrew Bible. | |
| Regina Spektor – Samson Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Spektor says the Bible didn't mention them, because the bible doesn't mention the relationship. And it doesn't mention Sampson's hair being cut. That allegory is told in the Book of Judges, in the Hebrew Bible. | |
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