SAMSON

1. Delilie was a woman, fine an' fair,
Very pleasant lookin' (wid her) coal-black hair;
Delilie she gained old Samson's mind
When he saw the woman an' she looked so fine,
Oh, whether he went to Timothy, I can't tell,
But the daughters of Timothy, they treated him well.
He 'plied to his father to go an' see,
"Can't you get this beautiful woman for me?"

Chorus:
He said, "An' if I had-n my way, " (3 times)
"I'd tear the buildin' down. "
He cried, "O Lord, O Lord,
O law Lordy, Lordy, O Lord."
He cried, "O Lord, O Lord,
O Law Lordy, Lordy, O Lord, yes!"
He said, "An' if I had-n my way,"
He says, "An' if I had-n my way," (twice)
"I'd tear the buildin' down."

2. Samson's mother 'plied to him,
"Can't you find a wife among our kin?"
Samson's father said, "'T grieve your mother's mind
To see you marry a woman of the Philistines."
Read about Samson from his birth,
He was the strongest man that ever lived on earth.
Read away down in ancient times
He killed three thousand Philistines.

3. Stop an' let me tell you what Samson done,
He looked at the lion, an' the lion run;
It's written that the lion had killed men with his paw,
But Samsom had his hand in the lion's jaw.
He kilt the lion, the lion is dead;
(He caught that lion and broke its back)
Bees made honey in the lion's head.
Samson was a man, large in size.
Overpowered a man and plucked out his eyes.

4. Samson burnt up a field of corn,
They looked for Samson but he was gone;
A-so many thousand formed a plot,
It wasn't many days 'fore he was caught.
They bound him with rope and, while walkin' along,
He looked on the ground an' he saw an ole jawbone;
He moved his arms, the rope popped like threads,
When he got through killin', three thousand was dead.

5. Samson, he went wanderin' about,
Samson's strength was never found out,
Till his wife sat on his knee,
She said, "Tell me where your strength be, if you please."
Samson's wife, she talked so fair,
Samson told her, "Shave off my hair,
Shave my head as clean as my hand
An' my strength will be like a natural man."

6. Shave his hair like the pa'm o' his hand,
His strength become as a natural man.
Took po' Samson to the judgement hall,
Bind him an' chained him to the wall;
He called a little boy about three foot tall,
Said, "Place my hands up against the wall."
An' he tore that buildin' down.

2nd Chorus:
He said, "An' now I got my way,"
He says, "An' now I got-n my way," (twice)
"I'll tear that buildin' down."
He cried, "O lord, O Lord,
O Law Lordy, Lordy, O Lord,"
He cried, "O Lord, O Lord,
O Law Lordy, O Lord, yes!"
He said. "An' now I got-n my way,"
He says, "An' now I got-n my way,"
He says, "An' now I got-n my way,
I'll tear the buildin' down."

Mostly from Sylvester Johnson (deacon of black Baptist Church), Knight, LA, 1939, with additions by Jesse Allison and Dock Reed, Livingston, AL, 1939 (two of their additions in ()); Willie Johnson, Golden Gate Qt, 1940. Our Singing Country, 1941, John A. and Allen Lomax (Dover reprint).
Also John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip. Click on Links at top of page and go to Lomax Collection for notes and sound on versions by Sylvester Johnson, and Jesse Allison and Dock Reed (their version will be posted separately later).
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