"Delilah" is the fourth single and sixth track from Florence and the Machine’s third studio album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.
Background[]
This song was written by Florence Welch and her songwriting partner Isabella Summers (The Machine) The song is about Florence’s time in Miami (Florida, US), after a rough night drinking and taking pills, and anticipating a phone call from her boyfriend the following morning
A mock-up of the situation was posted by Isabella Summers, whilst the pair recorded the demo version in Jamaica.
The song uses the biblical tale of the Hebrew strongman hero Samson and the beautiful and treacherous Delilah as a gender-reversing metaphor for her man ('Delilah')'s betrayal of her.
"This was one of the first songs Isa and I wrote for this record... while we were at Geejam studios in Jamaica," Welch explained. "It's based on a party we had just been to in Miami, the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah, and the agony of the mobile phone in modern relationships."
Lyrics[]
I'm drifting through the halls with the sunrise
(Holding on for your call)
Climbing up the walls for that flashing light
(I can never let go)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(Holding on for your call)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(But maybe not tonight)
And the sun is up and I'm going blind
(Holding on for your call)
Another drink just to pass the time
(I can never say no)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(Holding on for your call)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(But maybe not tonight)
It's a different kind of danger
And the bells are ringing out
And I'm calling for my mother
As I pull the pillars down
It's a different kind of danger
And my feet are spinning around
Never knew I was a dancer
Til Delilah showed me how
Too fast for freedom
Sometimes it all falls down
These chains never leave me
I keep dragging them 'round
Now I'm dancing with Delilah
And her vision is mine
(Holding on for your call)
Different kind of danger in the daylight
(I can never let go)
Took anything to cut you I can find
(Holding on for your call)
Different kind of danger in the daylight
(Can't you let me know?)
Now it's one more boy and is one more line
(Holding on for your call)
Taking the pills just to pass the time
(I can never say no)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(Holding on for your call)
Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine
(But maybe not tonight)
It's a different kind of danger
And the bells are ringing out
And I'm calling for my mother
As I pull the pillars down
It's a different kind of danger
And my feet are spinning around
Never knew I was a dancer
Til Delilah showed me how
Now I'm dancing with Delilah
And her vision is mine
(Holding on for your call)
Different kind of danger in the daylight
(I can never let go)
Took anything to cut you I can find
(Holding on for your call)
Different kind of danger in the daylight
(Can't you let me know?)
Strung up, strung out for your love
Hang in, hung up, it's so rough
I'm rung and ringing out
Why can't you let me know
Strung up, strung out for your love
Hang in, hung up, it's so rough
I'm rung and ringing out
Why can't you let me know
It's a different kind of danger
And the bells are ringing out
And I'm calling for my mother
As I pull the pillars down
It's a different kind of danger
And my feet are spinning around
Never knew I was a dancer
Til Delilah showed me how
It's a different kind of danger
And the bells are ringing out
And I'm calling for my mother
As I pull the pillars down
It's a different kind of danger
And my feet are spinning around
Never knew I was a dancer
Til Delilah showed me how
Too fast for freedom
Sometimes it all falls down
These chains never leave me
I keep dragging them 'round
Too fast for freedom
Sometimes it all falls down
These chains never leave me
I keep dragging them 'round
Critical reception[]
Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone wrote that "Delilah" begins sparsely with Welch's multi-tracked call-and-response vocals sailing atop a simple piano and simmering synths.[1]
Music video[]
The music video for "Delilah" was directed by Vincent Haycock and premiered on October 21, 2015 as part of the video series The Odyssey.[2] Filmed in Los Angeles,[3] the video opens with an intense monologue from an old man.[2] Florence Welch is then seen roaming through a "maze of motel rooms – dancing, writhing intensely, cutting a man's hair and encountering a horrifying goblin."[2] At the end of the video, Welch "triumphantly rides through the streets of Los Angeles [...] as a hat tip to her newfound freedom."[3]
In an interview with Rookie, Haycock said of the video, "The cutting of the hair was a direct reference to the biblical [story of] Delilah, but then it veered off into something more personal to Florence. Since this song was always planned as being the end of the series, we decided to make it about [her] returning to her true self, killing off the ego version of herself, and finding her way home again."[4]
Credits and personnel[]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Recording[]
- Engineered at The Pool (London)
- Mixed at Toast Studios (London)
- Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
Personnel[]
Florence and the Machine
- Florence Welch – vocals, backing vocals
- Chris Hayden – drums, percussion
- Mark Saunders – bass
Additional personnel
- Markus Dravs – production
- Robin Baynton – engineering, organ, piano
- Jonathan Sagis – engineering assistance
- Iain Berryman – engineering assistance
- Leo Abrahams – electric guitar
- Pete Prokopiw – programming
- Craig Silvey – mixing
- Eduardo de la Paz – mixing assistance
- Ted Jensen – mastering
Refrences[]
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/florence-and-the-machine-learn-to-dance-like-delilah-on-new-song-71135/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20181228184142/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-florence-welch-navigate-creepy-motel-in-delilah-video-193597/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://nylon.com/articles/florence-and-the-machine-delilah-music-video
- ↑ https://www.rookiemag.com/2015/10/florence-and-the-machine-delilah/
[]
 | |
|---|---|
| Tour • Merch • Photoshoot • Producers | |
| Discography | |
| Releases | How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful |
| Tracklist | Ship to Wreck • What Kind of Man • How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful • Queen of Peace • Various Storms & Saints • Delilah • Long & Lost • Caught • Third Eye • St. Jude • Mother |
| Deluxe | Hiding • Make Up Your Mind • Which Witch (Demo) • Third Eye (Demo) • How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Demo) |
| Bonus Tracks | Pure Feeling • Conductor • As Far As I Could Get |
| Unreleased | Tantalus |
| Other Eras | |
| Lungs • Ceremonials • How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful • High As Hope • Dance Fever | |