I went and read some about the story of Samson and Delilah, and I think it gave me more insight into this song.
According to the biblical story, Samson was given extraordinary physical strength through God. First he fell in love with a woman named Timnah, a Philistine, and weds her-- at the wedding reception, he promises a group of Philistines that he will provide them with thirty sets of clothes if they can solve a riddle. They are unable to solve it, but they implore Timnah to get the answer from him-- she does, and tells them, and Samson becomes furious because he doesn't have clothing to give to them.
He leaves town and kills thirty other men in a nearby village, steals their clothing, but when he returns, Timnah is now married to a friend of his. Enraged, he ultimately ends up killing a thousand of the Philistines.
When he goes to Gaza, Samson meets and falls in love with Delilah. The Philistines convince her to get him to tell her the source of his power-- he tells her it's his hair (however, it was not really in his hair, but because he had already broken two laws of the Nazarite. this was enough for God to take his power away from him).
Delilah cuts off all of Samson's hair, and then he is captured by the Philistines, who gouge out his eyeballs. However, the way he dies is by pulling down the two central pillars in a temple.
This seems to be referred to in the song with the lines "Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down / Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one."
I think the narrator of this song-- Delilah-- is lamenting about what could have been. Because she secretly did love Samson. All of the stories say that Samson loved Delilah, and make no mention of her returning the feelings. The lyric "I loved you first" seems to imply that not only did she love him back, but she loved him before he even loved her.
As I see it, this song is about how she imagined a different ending for their tragic romance. In this version, after she cuts his hair, he just eats a piece of bread, tells her it's okay, it's all right, nothing has changed. They make love and get a happy ending.
And in her version, the Bible doesn't even mention them because what she did didn't matter-- he didn't change history, and they just loved each other, quietly.
Timnah is a place, not a person. The name of Sampsons first wife is never mentioned in the Bible, it just says she is a girl of the Philistines who is from Timnah.
Timnah is a place, not a person. The name of Sampsons first wife is never mentioned in the Bible, it just says she is a girl of the Philistines who is from Timnah.
So the reference of bringing the columns down could translate to the fact that their relationship didn't crumble like it did by his death in the story?
So the reference of bringing the columns down could translate to the fact that their relationship didn't crumble like it did by his death in the story?
this fits perfectly to me. the only thing i don't see is how the line, "you are my sweetest downfall" applies. possibly just referring to her mistake of cutting off his hair in the first place(before she starts fantasizing of what could have been)?
this fits perfectly to me. the only thing i don't see is how the line, "you are my sweetest downfall" applies. possibly just referring to her mistake of cutting off his hair in the first place(before she starts fantasizing of what could have been)?
the last bit of your comment inspired this interpretation to pop into my head, so i thought i'd comment and see what you think..
the last bit of your comment inspired this interpretation to pop into my head, so i thought i'd comment and see what you think..
Samson knows he is destined to do god's work, but he meets delilah, they fall in love, and he lets her cut his hair so that he will lose his strength and wont be needed by god, which means he'll be able to stay with delilah forever. Delilah cuts his hair and therefore samson never brings the columns down and history books and the bible dont mention them, but they live happily ever after. (unless i'm being really stupid, i'm certain this fits)
"you are my sweetest downfall, i loved you first" > this is delilah saying that she loved samson and their love and life together was "sweet", or beautiful, but their love was in a way her downfall, because by her cutting his hair she let god down.
"Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth" > delilah from this alternate version of the bible story saying beneath the sheets of paper of the bible is her truth and her story, the other ending which is not in the bible.
"ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed" > samson would feel weak after he lost his hair and his strength. he's be eating wonderbread and resting to get over it.
the song kinda is a conflict of samson's love and true feelings and what he is supposed to do for god. i think it could show that maybe love beats all. :)
I think the phrase "you are my sweetest downfall" is meant to be a reclamation of the word "downfall". In the Bible (and cultural parlance) Delilah ruins Samson's covenant with God, causing his death, and is thus his downfall; in Regina's alternate version, Samson is Delilah's "downfall", as in "falling" in love (and thus "sweet").
I think the phrase "you are my sweetest downfall" is meant to be a reclamation of the word "downfall". In the Bible (and cultural parlance) Delilah ruins Samson's covenant with God, causing his death, and is thus his downfall; in Regina's alternate version, Samson is Delilah's "downfall", as in "falling" in love (and thus "sweet").
Absolutely, this song is about Samson and Delilah and is a metaphor for regret. Sung in Delilah's voice, she is recreating her fantasy of what she wishes had happened instead of this destruction and death. The "wonderbread" reference is weird, and I think it just indicates the point where fantasy starts and reality ends.
Absolutely, this song is about Samson and Delilah and is a metaphor for regret. Sung in Delilah's voice, she is recreating her fantasy of what she wishes had happened instead of this destruction and death. The "wonderbread" reference is weird, and I think it just indicates the point where fantasy starts and reality ends.
It also implies the distinction between life choices: simple / quiet / domestic (traditional female virtues), vs fame / renown / misery (traditional male virtues). Maybe, keeping in metaphor, Delilah would have been happy with a "normal" Samson but Samson preferred or was destined death and destruction rather than "normal". Which is actually pretty sad for Delilah, one of history's greatest so-called villains.
I went and read some about the story of Samson and Delilah, and I think it gave me more insight into this song.
According to the biblical story, Samson was given extraordinary physical strength through God. First he fell in love with a woman named Timnah, a Philistine, and weds her-- at the wedding reception, he promises a group of Philistines that he will provide them with thirty sets of clothes if they can solve a riddle. They are unable to solve it, but they implore Timnah to get the answer from him-- she does, and tells them, and Samson becomes furious because he doesn't have clothing to give to them.
He leaves town and kills thirty other men in a nearby village, steals their clothing, but when he returns, Timnah is now married to a friend of his. Enraged, he ultimately ends up killing a thousand of the Philistines.
When he goes to Gaza, Samson meets and falls in love with Delilah. The Philistines convince her to get him to tell her the source of his power-- he tells her it's his hair (however, it was not really in his hair, but because he had already broken two laws of the Nazarite. this was enough for God to take his power away from him).
Delilah cuts off all of Samson's hair, and then he is captured by the Philistines, who gouge out his eyeballs. However, the way he dies is by pulling down the two central pillars in a temple.
This seems to be referred to in the song with the lines "Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down / Yeah, we couldn't destroy a single one."
I think the narrator of this song-- Delilah-- is lamenting about what could have been. Because she secretly did love Samson. All of the stories say that Samson loved Delilah, and make no mention of her returning the feelings. The lyric "I loved you first" seems to imply that not only did she love him back, but she loved him before he even loved her.
As I see it, this song is about how she imagined a different ending for their tragic romance. In this version, after she cuts his hair, he just eats a piece of bread, tells her it's okay, it's all right, nothing has changed. They make love and get a happy ending.
And in her version, the Bible doesn't even mention them because what she did didn't matter-- he didn't change history, and they just loved each other, quietly.
couldn't have said it better myself
couldn't have said it better myself
Timnah is a place, not a person. The name of Sampsons first wife is never mentioned in the Bible, it just says she is a girl of the Philistines who is from Timnah.
Timnah is a place, not a person. The name of Sampsons first wife is never mentioned in the Bible, it just says she is a girl of the Philistines who is from Timnah.
So the reference of bringing the columns down could translate to the fact that their relationship didn't crumble like it did by his death in the story?
So the reference of bringing the columns down could translate to the fact that their relationship didn't crumble like it did by his death in the story?
this fits perfectly to me. the only thing i don't see is how the line, "you are my sweetest downfall" applies. possibly just referring to her mistake of cutting off his hair in the first place(before she starts fantasizing of what could have been)?
this fits perfectly to me. the only thing i don't see is how the line, "you are my sweetest downfall" applies. possibly just referring to her mistake of cutting off his hair in the first place(before she starts fantasizing of what could have been)?
the last bit of your comment inspired this interpretation to pop into my head, so i thought i'd comment and see what you think..
the last bit of your comment inspired this interpretation to pop into my head, so i thought i'd comment and see what you think..
Samson knows he is destined to do god's work, but he meets delilah, they fall in love, and he lets her cut his hair so that he will lose his strength and wont be needed by god, which means he'll be able to stay with delilah forever. Delilah cuts his hair and therefore samson never brings the columns down and history books and the bible dont mention them, but they live happily ever after. (unless i'm being really stupid, i'm certain this fits)
"you are my sweetest downfall, i loved you first" > this is delilah saying that she loved samson and their love and life together was "sweet", or beautiful, but their love was in a way her downfall, because by her cutting his hair she let god down.
"Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth" > delilah from this alternate version of the bible story saying beneath the sheets of paper of the bible is her truth and her story, the other ending which is not in the bible.
"ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed" > samson would feel weak after he lost his hair and his strength. he's be eating wonderbread and resting to get over it. the song kinda is a conflict of samson's love and true feelings and what he is supposed to do for god. i think it could show that maybe love beats all. :)
@Eleio
@Eleio
I think the phrase "you are my sweetest downfall" is meant to be a reclamation of the word "downfall". In the Bible (and cultural parlance) Delilah ruins Samson's covenant with God, causing his death, and is thus his downfall; in Regina's alternate version, Samson is Delilah's "downfall", as in "falling" in love (and thus "sweet").
I think the phrase "you are my sweetest downfall" is meant to be a reclamation of the word "downfall". In the Bible (and cultural parlance) Delilah ruins Samson's covenant with God, causing his death, and is thus his downfall; in Regina's alternate version, Samson is Delilah's "downfall", as in "falling" in love (and thus "sweet").
Absolutely, this song is about Samson and Delilah and is a metaphor for regret. Sung in Delilah's voice, she is recreating her fantasy of what she wishes had happened instead of this destruction and death. The "wonderbread" reference is weird, and I think it just indicates the point where fantasy starts and reality ends.
Absolutely, this song is about Samson and Delilah and is a metaphor for regret. Sung in Delilah's voice, she is recreating her fantasy of what she wishes had happened instead of this destruction and death. The "wonderbread" reference is weird, and I think it just indicates the point where fantasy starts and reality ends.
It also implies the distinction between life choices: simple / quiet / domestic (traditional female virtues), vs fame / renown / misery (traditional male virtues). Maybe, keeping in metaphor, Delilah would have been happy with a "normal" Samson but Samson preferred or was destined death and destruction rather than "normal". Which is actually pretty sad for Delilah, one of history's greatest so-called villains.