This is actually a twist to the story of Samson and Delilah in the book of Judges in the Bible. Samson's hair was the source of his superhuman strength. When he came to be with Delilah, she cut off his hair and took away his strength. The important element to draw from this is the idea that to be with Delilah, Samson gave up his strength, his wildness, his independence. In essence, she tamed him, checked his power. That is a metaphor of what happens when a man falls in love with a woman: In order for a man to be with a woman, he must be tamed, his independence and thus his strength is checked by the commitment of a monogamous relationship. It's a tale as old as time, beauty tames the beast, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, women civilize the men.
In the actual story, Samson used to terrorize his enemies, the Philistines. Samson falls in love with a Philistine woman against God's council. When his enemies realize this, they blackmail Delilah into cutting Samson's hair while he was asleep by threatening to kill her family. Samson wakes up angry. But as he is powerless now, his enemies take him away from Delilah, blind him, and chain him to the two main pillars of their temple to mock him. But his hair grows back and he slowly regains his superhuman strength without his enemies realizing it. Long story short, he is finally able to get back at his enemies by breaking down the pillars temple during a celebration, bringing down the roof, effectively killing himself along with is enemies.
But the twist in this song is Delilah seems to have worked on her own when she cuts Samson's hair. When she does, Samson doesn't wake up angry. In fact he's pleased. Delilah says, "And he told me that I'd done alright". The tamed Samson eats his Wonder bread, like a normal civil man, and goes back to bed, like a normal civil man. No pillars were broken down, no temple came tumbling down. Only "old light" from the stars. No legend was created, no history changed, no stories told in the Bible or anywhere. He has given up his strength, his wildness, his independence, his dominance over his enemies for love.
But the catch that isn't said explicitly in the song (but strongly implied) is that by cutting his hair and taming him Delilah saves his life.
I think your interpretation of the song is the best I've read yet, the only thing that comes to my mind while listening to the song is that the cutting of samson's hair wasnt voluntary by any means. this brings either a more romantic...or more rapey side to the song. ultimately the song is sexual; a woman lies with a man in bed and takes something from him by the end. it might be his innocence his virginity, his lust... this is up for interpretation. in the bible this "hair" was taken by force, but in the...
I think your interpretation of the song is the best I've read yet, the only thing that comes to my mind while listening to the song is that the cutting of samson's hair wasnt voluntary by any means. this brings either a more romantic...or more rapey side to the song. ultimately the song is sexual; a woman lies with a man in bed and takes something from him by the end. it might be his innocence his virginity, his lust... this is up for interpretation. in the bible this "hair" was taken by force, but in the song it is ultimately approved by samson in the end. Either way this implies that "delilah" robbed something from samson which he forgave her for, and thus the "all right" rather than the "great".
@Kindo88 My interpretation has always been alongside what you are proposing. This seems like: "Hey guys, this is the real story, which you haven't heard, because they didn't mention us in the Bible like that, but that's what went down." Loved your take as well s the original post in this thread.
@Kindo88 My interpretation has always been alongside what you are proposing. This seems like: "Hey guys, this is the real story, which you haven't heard, because they didn't mention us in the Bible like that, but that's what went down." Loved your take as well s the original post in this thread.
This is actually a twist to the story of Samson and Delilah in the book of Judges in the Bible. Samson's hair was the source of his superhuman strength. When he came to be with Delilah, she cut off his hair and took away his strength. The important element to draw from this is the idea that to be with Delilah, Samson gave up his strength, his wildness, his independence. In essence, she tamed him, checked his power. That is a metaphor of what happens when a man falls in love with a woman: In order for a man to be with a woman, he must be tamed, his independence and thus his strength is checked by the commitment of a monogamous relationship. It's a tale as old as time, beauty tames the beast, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, women civilize the men.
In the actual story, Samson used to terrorize his enemies, the Philistines. Samson falls in love with a Philistine woman against God's council. When his enemies realize this, they blackmail Delilah into cutting Samson's hair while he was asleep by threatening to kill her family. Samson wakes up angry. But as he is powerless now, his enemies take him away from Delilah, blind him, and chain him to the two main pillars of their temple to mock him. But his hair grows back and he slowly regains his superhuman strength without his enemies realizing it. Long story short, he is finally able to get back at his enemies by breaking down the pillars temple during a celebration, bringing down the roof, effectively killing himself along with is enemies.
But the twist in this song is Delilah seems to have worked on her own when she cuts Samson's hair. When she does, Samson doesn't wake up angry. In fact he's pleased. Delilah says, "And he told me that I'd done alright". The tamed Samson eats his Wonder bread, like a normal civil man, and goes back to bed, like a normal civil man. No pillars were broken down, no temple came tumbling down. Only "old light" from the stars. No legend was created, no history changed, no stories told in the Bible or anywhere. He has given up his strength, his wildness, his independence, his dominance over his enemies for love.
But the catch that isn't said explicitly in the song (but strongly implied) is that by cutting his hair and taming him Delilah saves his life.
I think your interpretation of the song is the best I've read yet, the only thing that comes to my mind while listening to the song is that the cutting of samson's hair wasnt voluntary by any means. this brings either a more romantic...or more rapey side to the song. ultimately the song is sexual; a woman lies with a man in bed and takes something from him by the end. it might be his innocence his virginity, his lust... this is up for interpretation. in the bible this "hair" was taken by force, but in the...
I think your interpretation of the song is the best I've read yet, the only thing that comes to my mind while listening to the song is that the cutting of samson's hair wasnt voluntary by any means. this brings either a more romantic...or more rapey side to the song. ultimately the song is sexual; a woman lies with a man in bed and takes something from him by the end. it might be his innocence his virginity, his lust... this is up for interpretation. in the bible this "hair" was taken by force, but in the song it is ultimately approved by samson in the end. Either way this implies that "delilah" robbed something from samson which he forgave her for, and thus the "all right" rather than the "great".
@Kindo88 My interpretation has always been alongside what you are proposing. This seems like: "Hey guys, this is the real story, which you haven't heard, because they didn't mention us in the Bible like that, but that's what went down." Loved your take as well s the original post in this thread.
@Kindo88 My interpretation has always been alongside what you are proposing. This seems like: "Hey guys, this is the real story, which you haven't heard, because they didn't mention us in the Bible like that, but that's what went down." Loved your take as well s the original post in this thread.