Your hair was long when we first met...

As a fiercely independent and idiosyncratic singer/songwriter who plays the piano, Regina Spektor draws easy comparisons to Tori Amos. But her work feels less remote and more versatile, thanks in large part to a singular songwriting voice that spans genres and personas with grace and apparent ease.

Her first album recorded for widespread distribution -- its three predecessors were self-released, though the marvelous Soviet Kitsch received a high-profile reissue last year -- the new Begin to Hope finds the Russian-born performer in the midst of a full-blown star turn. On "Samson," the album's most elegantly lovely song, Spektor uses the story of Samson as a jumping-off point for a poignant rumination on disappointment, aging and obsolescence.

For all its thematic ambition and Biblical allusions, "Samson" functions best as a subtle character sketch, but it also makes a grand showcase for Spektor's knockout arrangement. When a wave of minor-key synths rolls in during the sweetly melancholy chorus -- just as she hits the words, "Your hair was long when we first met" -- the resulting sound is moving to a degree that's practically paralyzing.

Samson

Artist: Regina Spektor
Album: Begin to Hope
Genre: Pop


you are my sweetest downfall
i loved you first, i loved you first
beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
i have to go, i have to go
your hair was long when we first met

samson went back to bed
not much hair left on his head
he ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
and history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us
and the bible didn't mention us, not even once

you are my sweetest downfall
i loved you first, i loved you first
beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads
but they're just old light, they're just old light
your hair was long when we first met

samson came to my bed
told me that my hair was red
told me i was beautiful and came into my bed
oh i cut his hair myself one night
a pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
and he told me that i'd done alright
and kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light
and he kissed me 'til the mornin' light

samson went back to bed
not much hair left on his head
ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
oh, we couldn't bring the columns down
yeah we couldn't destroy a single one
and history books forgot about us
and the bible didn't mention us, not even once

you are my sweetest downfall
i loved you first