Regina Spektor – Samson

Regina Spektor has been a favorite singer of mine for a long time.  This is the first song that I ever heard by her.  It’s based on the story of Samson and Delilah from the bible. Despite being a raging atheist, you may be surprised to know that I really do know what I am talking about for the most part… I have read the entire bible, cover to cover, once. I have re-read specific sections thousands of times throughout the years. In addition, I have read my Illustrated Picture Bible (a huge colorful bible my grandma gave me when I learned to read) hundreds of times, up until my late teens. Once in awhile I still open it and look through it, mostly when I am missing my grandma.

The very short version of the bible story that we’re concerned with, starts out when Samson disobeyed his father – Israelites were not supposed to marry pagan women, who would pollute their households with their idolatrous ways.  There is a huge, long, twisting plot regarding Samson that you can read about in the Book of Judges, if you care to, where it tells of his victories and his sins.  He slays armies, he performs amazing feats, etc.  But the gist of the part that we’re concerned with, it is that Samson had supernatural strength given to him by god, the source of which was his long hair.

He eventually travels to Gaza and falls in love with a woman named Delilah.  She is working for the Philistines, and after she seduces him to learn his secret, she has a servant shave his head while he sleeps.  This breaks the pact with god, who then abandons him.  Delilah betrays Samson to the Philistines, who then put out his eyes with hot pokers and make him into a slave.

Much later, the Philistines are preparing a sacrifice for their god, Dagon, to thank him for delivering Samson to them.  They apparently didn’t notice that his hair had grown long again.  They had a servant lead him to the temple to be gawked at and ridiculed by the city inhabitants.  He asked the servant to let him lean against the pillars, where he prayed that god help him one last time, by giving him the strength to bring down the pillars to get revenge for his eyes.  He cries, let me die with them, and then brings the pillars down, slaughtering all of the people in the temple, and does in fact die with them.

Now that you know the very short version of the bible story of Samson and Delilah, listen to the song Samson, from Regina Spektor.  It is about Samson’s first lover, who has been forgotten by history. I love Regina Spektor, and this song is simply beautiful.

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You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn’t mention us
And the bible didn’t mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin’ on our heads
But they’re just old light, they’re just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
Oh I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
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

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn’t bring the columns down
Yeah we couldn’t destroy a single one
And the history books forgot about us
And the bible didn’t mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

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As for what this song means to me – my husband had long hair when I met him. lots of stuff i can’t explain went in between. And then, one night a few years ago, we were at Sybaris (romantic hotel with swimming pool suites) and we had taken some ecstasy, and he begged me to cut all of his hair off. So I did. All we had were dull scissors and it was more like the light of the gas fireplace than moonlight, but I heard this song and it reminded me of that night. And that’s my story.