Regina Spektor - Samson

You are my sweetest downfall.

Album: Begin to Hope [4th album]
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, antifolk
Album Release: June 13th 2006
Length: 3:10
Producer: Regina Spektor & David Kahne
Vocalist: Regina Spektor [age 26]
Label: Sire Records [subsidiary of Warner Records]

Music Video


Live on The Late Show in 2018


Live in 2009


Live on KCRW in 2017


Original Version [from Regina Spektor's 2001 album 'Songs']

Charts, Streams & Sales

Australia (albums): Certified gold
UK (albums): Certified gold
USA (albums): Certified gold
Spotify: 119,000,000 +
YouTube Music: 28,000,000 +
Shortlist Music Prize Nominee 2006 [losing to Cat Power]

Credits & Gear

Piano [Spektor]

Details

• The track first appears on Spektor's 2001 album 'Songs' and would be re-recorded for inclusion on her 2006 album 'Begin to Hope'. This post is about the song recorded in 2006 which is about 40 seconds shorter and performed at a higher tempo than the original. 'Songs' is unavailable on streaming services.
  
  
• Some people say the song is about an old boyfriend of Regina's who had cancer. It uses the biblical character of Samson, whose hair gave him tremendous strength, as a metaphor for someone losing their hair, and therefore strength, through sickness, as happens to people during chemotherapy. "I cut his hair myself one night" sings Regina. He gets weaker as his hair falls out. The cancerous boyfriend theory seems unlikely though as Spektor wrote the song when she was around 20 years old. She was barely old enough to have a life featuring such an event. Though it's not impossible.
  
  People have speculated the singer is supposed to be Delilah, from the same Bible story, though the title of the song is 'Samson', there's no mention of Delilah. Also, the singer describes herself as having red hair where nearly all depictions of Delilah show her to have black hair. She also says "the Bible didn't mention us". The Bible clearly mentions Samson & Delilah, therefore the song is not from Delilah's point of view.
  
  As Regina is a Russian born in Moscow it's possible that the man's hair loss and illness is caused by radiation sickness. The Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded in 1986 and deeply affected the Russian psyche. Regina was living in Russia at the time of the accident. The song also mentions the sick man eating wonder bread which is effective at preventing radiation sickness.
  
  Regina is a songwriter in the antifolk tradition which is a satirical, mocking form of music that features comedic lyrics and delivery to dispel a sense of self-aggrandizing seriousness that was prevalent in folk at the time. Accordingly, it's always possible that 'Samson' is satirical, perhaps representating the ills of the broader U.S.S.R.. This doesn't ring true for me though. The song feels deeply personal and not mocking but heartfelt, even sentimental.
  
  Antifolk is really about breaking the rules and not being afraid to go where your songwriting takes you. Yes it mocks and jests, but it also tells stories and puts individuality on a pedestal. It allows a person to express themselves openly and is unafraid to push the envelope. At the start of the song Regina sings "beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth". As if she's saying the answers aren't found on the page or in the lyrics but in the emotion they came from. Speaking about her songwriting, she told womanrock.com in 2005:
  
  "I get into this headspace and become Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Not with every song, but with a lot of them. Most of the time the songs are not about me. I use a lot of imagination. Imagining this little world and these people. I relate it much more to short stories or little cinema pieces and making up characters rather than songs."
  
  Personally, I think the song's about a woman whose boyfriend had cancer and he lost his strength along with his hair. Though it's told from the point of view of a character instead of something Regina experienced herself. Sometimes fiction is more poetic than reality.
  
  
• When Regina sings "the bible didn't mention us" she makes it clear she is not Delilah. Though her perspective could be that of a more normal figure, the type of person forgotten by history, but important regardless. Her love for Samson was just as real, and maybe more so than Delilah's, because it wasn't based on his ability to bring the columns down or his strength.
  
  The bible mentioned Samson & Delilah but according to the song "the bible didn't mention us", or Samson & Regina. She isn't associated with him for what he is most famous for, but is still associated with him. It sounds like a description of Regina's secret relationship with a famous guy.
  
  
• Spektor has another song about cancer called 'Chemo Limo'.
• The song is performed entirely by Regina Spektor.
  
• The mayor of New York declared June 11th 2019 to be 'Regina Spektor Day'.
• Spektor is a classically-trained pianist who also plays guitar.
• As a Russian-Jew, Regina Spektor is an outspoken supporter of Israel. Her views have caused some fans to disavow her though she remains steadfast in her beliefs.
  
  

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