Samson and Delilah, by Rev. Gary Davis

Samson and Delilah

by Reverend Gary Davis ŠChandos Music

(From the album - Gospel, Blues and Street Songs)

If I had my way If I had my way If I had my way I would tear this old building down

Well Delilah, she was a woman fine and fair She had good looks, God knows and coal black hair Delilah, she came to Samson's mind The first he saw this woman that looked so fine Delilah, she set down on Samson's knee Said tell me where your strength lies if you please She spoke so kind, God knows, she talked so fair 'til Samson said 'Delilah, you can cut off my hair You can shave my head, clean as my hand And my strength 'come as natural as any a man'

If I had my way If I had my way In this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this old building down

Talk, Yeah Yeah, Talk to me Yeah, Yeah, talk to me Yeah, what happened then?

If I had my way If I had my way If I had my way I would tear this old building down

Yeah you read about old Samson, told from his birth He was the strongest man that ever had lived on Earth So one day while Samson was-a-walkin' along He looked on the ground and saw an old jawbone He stretched out his arm, God knows, it broke like flint When he got to movin' ten-thousand was dead, Mmm

If I had my way If I had my way in this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this old building down

Well old Samson and the lion got attacked Samson he jumped up on the lion's back So you read about this lion had killed a man with his paws But Samson got his hand in the lion's jaws He rid that beast until he killed him dead And the bees made honey in the lion's head

Good God!

If I had my way If I had my way If I had my way I would tear this old building down

If I had my way If I had my way in this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this old building down

Good God1

(Thanks to Frank Basile for providing these lyrics)

to hear versions of this song:

This song appears on the following releases:

Gospel, Blues and Street Songs Harlem Street Singer At The Sign Of The Sun The Prestige/Folklore Years, Volume Four, Singing Out Loud The Reverend Gary Davis At Newport Blues At Newport (exact same version as above) Live and Kickin' From Blues To Gospel

tablature of this song:

Other performers' covers of this song appear on these albums: (click on links for Real Audio samples or to jump to their page)

"Peter, Paul & Mary (1st LP) (1962)" and "In Concert" by Peter, Paul and Mary

"Terrapin Station" "Dead Set"

"Dick's Picks Volume Three", "Dick's Picks Volume Nine" by the Grateful Dead

"Inside Dave Van Ronk" by Dave Van Ronk

"Remember Me"" by Tim & Mollie O'Brien

"Oh, Glory" by Andy Cohen

Other versions/transcriptions of this song: Grateful Dead Song And Lyric Finder Mark Leone's Old Home Page http://almond.srv.cs.cmu.edu/%7Emleone/gdead/dead-lyrics/Samson_and_Delilah.txt