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

Spotify: Over 100 million
YouTube Music: Over 25 million

Credits & Gear

Piano [Spektor]

Details

• 'Samson' first appeared on Songs (2001) and would be re-recorded for inclusion on her 2006 album Begin to Hope (2006). The version here is from 2006, around 40 seconds shorter and performed at a higher tempo than the original. Songs is unavailable on streaming services.
  
  
• Some people say 'Samson' is about an old boyfriend of Regina's who had cancer, and that it uses the biblical character of Samson, whose hair gave him tremendous strength, as a metaphor for a person losing their hair, and strength, through sickness, such as in chemotherapy: 'I cut his hair myself one night'. 
  
  Others have speculated that the singer is supposed to be Delilah, 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 a mane of brown. Spektor also says 'the Bible didn't mention us', and  the Bible clearly mentions both Samson & Delilah. 
  
  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.
  
  
• Spektor has another song about cancer called 'Chemo Limo'.
  
  

Artwork