There is an obsession with the story of Samson and Delilah in music. Especially given the non religious contexts it's utilized in. Two prevalent examples are "Sampson and Delilah" by the Grateful Dead and "Gouge Away" by the Pixies (possibly my favorite Pixies song).
To begin I believe the reason why is not because of the folk like or magical nature of the story as it's a cool but mostly generic story: Samson is in love with a woman, he tells her his secrets, she attempts to tie him up using stupid methods he lied about, he decides fck it and tells her the real secret to his strength anyway, she cuts his hair and chains him up, the Philistines come in and gouge his eyes out, he pulls the whole building down thus killing Delilah, his enemies, AND himself.
I think what people are fascinated with here that sets the story apart is that Samson not only had to be torturously blinded and kill himself just to escape his love for women (because Delilah was not his first wife and a love for women is considered one if his "character flaws" supposedly) but that he likely knew exactly what he was doing when he gave in and told her the truth. Such was his love that he just accepted defeat and so total was his defeat and resignation that it caused the death and ruin of hundreds and his own suicide.
I'm not religious and I'm not explaining what the text was really about from a biblical standpoint or what parts of this story are accurate depending on what Abrahamic religion and what version or any of that. I'm trying to explain it from the point of view of the kind of people that write songs about it.
Onwards to the Pixies song. So Black Francis definitely wrote this at least primarily about an ex of his who is even referred to as 'Missy Aggravation' in a documentary and I will comment on that first but as I would argue for almost any Pixies song, there's more to it in my opinion (but also absolutely not because Francis literally just throws shit together and doesn't put much effort into lyrics [his words] but can I please just interpret it anyway)
The primary highlight between the Pixies song and my probably flawed reading of Samson and Delilah is the near exhausted repetition of defeat and acceptance in the song saying again and again:
"Gouge away, you can gouge away, stay all day if you want to".
He's sick, he's tired, he's going blind but he doesn't just accept it, he wants it. Just keep stabbing me in the eyes. Just keep coming. It's okay.
This is interlaced, in the classic Pixies "loud-quiet-loud" style, with lyrics very heavily referencing the Samson and Delilah story especially the crooning and seducing of "Missy" as she strokes his locks, and the referencing of torture, spooning the eyes, breaking arms, and chaining him up.
Here's where I would argue there's more to it. So when I listen to this song I feel absolutely fucking entrenched in my own….reluctant acceptance?
We all make deliberate poor choices. I'm an alcoholic, I make a lot of very deliberate poor choices. But that's not what this is. It's the pathetic feeling of "lying back and taking it" because you've convinced yourself it feels better to be in pain or at very least you have no idea how to fix the problem so you're just fucking sick and mired in it.
For me it's psychosis and depression. I just would rather stare back at the man in my bathroom and let the voices in my head berate me than even try and comprehend how I would get out of this situation.
I'll lie here awake and stare until it's 9 pm and then I'll get up and go to work. And in the morning I'll let you back in the door so you can put your poker back in my eyes. That's obviously not the typical lifestyle people are resigning to but I would argue at very least a state of stunted mental health is the grounds for most people's miserable but complacent attitude.
But back to the song, hear me out. This "lifestyle resignation" is conveyed in the song as well. It's definitely about his ex but at the same time she is part of his whole life setting which he has allowed to be fucked. I'm not even necessarily talking about Francis here just the storyteller though it's not like he's had a perfect life.
He says "you stroke my locks, some marijuana if you got some" "a 3 day party I broke the walls" he's living a shitty lifestyle and he's doing it with a shitty person and he's just letting it happen because it's easier than trying to figure out why he's miserable or what to do about it.
So yeah. We're all obsessed with Samson and Delilah because it's manic and self flagellating and contains all of our favorite themes: love, suicide, murder, and total defeated resignation.
The Grateful Dead song is a bit different in that it focuses on the frustration of being locked up and powerless and because it was written by a bunch of very talented potheads with no deeper meaning even though I love it but it just goes to further cement alternative music's love for this story.
Some other examples would be Samson by Regina Spektor and a litany of rock and grunge covers of the original worship song.
As a disclaimer I'm a huge fan of the Pixies music and listen to a lot of it but I don't know Black Franis' life story, I would need to do a lot more research I just wanted to analyze the song.
