Wiki
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Length
3:42
Continuing Doolittle’s use of Biblical stories for lyrical inspiration, “Gouge Away” addresses the story of Samson from the Book of Judges. Empowered by God with supernatural powers, Samson is able to accomplish incredible things in the name of the Lord – however, his weakness for women and reliance on his long hair (which was the last part of the Nazarite vow he had not broken) eventually lead to his injury and death.
Samson had his eyes gouged out by enemy Philistines in a time of weakness, explaining the title of the song.
Black Francis told Esquire, that he thinks “it’s the best song on the record.”
”It’s a story about Sampson and Delilah, you’re the first person that’s actually realised – probably because the song doesn’t actually mention Sampson or Delilah. It’s a sort of sex story: Delilah shows up as a secret spy of the Philistines and has an affair with Sampson. I don’t know what he was getting out of it. But enough sex and drugs and relaxation to give up his secrets. Maybe he loved her, I dunno. But they gouged his eyes out in the end.”
- (Black Francis in the NME, April 1989)
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