There's no end to the love you can give
When you change your point of view to underfoot
Very good
You may be flat but you're breathing

And there's no doubt he's at home in his room
Probably watching porn of you from the fall
It's last call
And you're the last one leaving

And you thought you could change the world
By opening your legs
Well it isn't very hard
Try kicking them instead
And you thought you could change his mind
By changing your perfume to the kind his mother wore
O god Delilah why?
I never met a more impossible girl

In this same bar where you slammed down your hand
And said "Amanda, I'm in love"
No you're not
You're just a sucker for the ones who use you
And it doesn't matter what I say or do
The stupid bastard's gonna have his way with you

You're an unrescuable schizo
Or else you're on the rag
If you take him back
I'm gonna lose my nerve
I never met a more impossible girl
I never met a more impossible girl

At four o'clock he got off
And you called up
"I'm down at Denny's on route one
And you won't guess what he's done"
Is that a fact Delilah?
Larry tap let you in through the back
And use his calling card again
For a quick hand of gin

You are impossible, Delilah: the princess of denial
And after 7 years in advertising you are none the wiser

You're an unrescuable schizo
Or else you're on the rag
'Cause if you take him back
I'm gonna lose my nerve
He's gonna beat you like a pillow
You schizos never learn
And if you take him home
You'll get what you deserve

So don't cry Delilah
You're still alive Delilah
You need a ride Delilah?
Let's see how fast this thing can go



Lyrics submitted by Airyca

Track duration: 06:55

"Delilah" as written by Amanda Palmer

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Delilah song meanings
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87 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:"You're an unrescuable schizo / Or else you're on the rag"

    I've noticed many people find these lyrics strange. Amanda sings as if Delilah is a personal friend. I've had a friend like this who always found herself with assholes who use her for sex or abuse her in some way. No many how many times I instantly recognized, "this guy's an asshole," my friend would never realize it. She would say, "I'm done with guys like that," etc., but she always found herself with another. It was very frustrating for me as a friend to watch her go down the same path over and over and over and never take my advice. In fact she would get upset, angry, and offended if I tried to say anything. "You don't know him," etc., those kinds of arguments. I found myself not bothering to help anymore, that my friend really was unrescuable like Amanda sings. Perhaps Amanda experienced that and was frustrated as a friend whose advice was always ignored. Called Delilah schizo because she doesn't learn, guessed she was on the rag because she would be angry when told the truth about the guys?
    Flag minowaon March 02, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:This is a really sad song. It’s the end of the road for Delilah and Amanda knows it. She sounds so sad.
    The lyrics ‘ it’s last call and you’re the last one leaving
    and you thought you could change the world’ show that Delilah has been left behind by her friends who have all moved on and she’s stuck in a time warp in her home town with her knobhead sexed up charming abusive boyfriend

    Delilah has no self esteem left. I wonder if she came from an abusive background and now seeks love from the wrong kind of men.
    I imagine she’s attractive and trys to use this to attract men..it’s just sex they want..but she needs love.
    Amanda is a very loyal friend but her hearts broken because she knows there’s nothing she can do.

    He must cheat with so many girls and Delilah always calls Amanda up tearful to say things like the following line shows this ‘you called up I’m down at denny’s on route one
    you won’t guess what he’s done
    is that a fact Delilah’

    She’s completely deluded and can’t see the tragic ‘fairytale’ she’s in.
    Delilah please don’t do it
    Flag neonwrenon June 16, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The gist of this song is, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Delilah is a friend who has allowed herself to be fooled twice, three times, a hundred times by some asshole guy. Despite Amanda's harsh words, I think Delilah is her friend and she is just frustrated that she won't wise up and leave the guy because Amanda doesn't want to see her get hurt (worse than she already is).

    There are several lines referencing Delilah drinking (it's last call/and you're the last one leaving; for a quick hand of gin). It seems the implication is that she's drinking away her sorrow, but she won't even acknowledge that there's a problem. She's depressed but she won't admit it, not even to herself, because to do so would show that her relationship with this guy is harming her, and she's so in denial about it.

    Then there's a few lines about still being alive "you may be flat but you're breathing; you're still alive Delilah" - I think Amanda is saying, get out before he kills you, Delilah.

    "Let's see how fast this thing can go" - to me this is Amanda's summary of Delilah's attitude/mindset in one succinct phrase. Foolish, reckless, self-destructive. An accident waiting to happen, asking for trouble.

    Like somebody else said, some of the lines of this song bother me a bit. They don't seem "Amandaish" to me (not that I know her or anything to make that assessment). "You schizos never learn/And if you take him back/You get what you deserve" I think Amanda airs some pretty personal thoughts in her songs, personal enough to paint a picture of what kind of person she is, and she doesn't seem to me like somebody who would make generalizations about people with mental illnesses, or say that a victim of abuse deserves what they got, no matter how foolish the victim may have been.

    Every time I hear the line "Oh God, Delilah, why?" I picture this, haha: ragemaker.net/images/
    Flag elddiReMsihTon December 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:writing*...
    Flag keighleycakeson February 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Amanda Palmer is a strong woman. Her writting shows it.
    Great song
    Flag keighleycakeson February 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Some are in for the kill; a few for the long run.
    Flag sandraa4211on May 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:We see it as 'Delilah' being a close friend of hers, who she is trying to protect from a relationship with a man who Delilah thinks loves her, but he really is violent, and abuses her. The line 'Probably watching porn of you from the fall' probably means Delilah and the man used to have a good relationship, and the porn being home made videos, rather than her being a porn star etc. 'Let's see how fast this thing can go' is like them trying to escape from all the shit, seeing how fast they can get away from it.

    Also, last week we saw Amanda live and she sung this with the lead singer from Bitter Ruin, the support band, and they sung it like a conversation and it was fucking insanely beautiful! <3
    Flag EllipsisAmpersandon April 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I aggree with all of the comments cause all in all it's the same idea behind each interpretation ;)

    what i want to do is to share some information... well... in fact two points:

    1. "You're an unrescuable schizo, Or else you're on the rag" "on the rag" does really mean a woman's period, because in german speaking countries (maybe in english speaking too??) when a woman flip's out or is angry about things that doesn't disturb her normally, at least men say "she has her period days".
    Furthermore it fit's perfect because in some ways the behavior of a women and a schizo is the same isn't it?? xD


    2. The name Delilah comes from the hebrew (??). in the bible is the story of salomon and delilah and delilah knew a way to kill salomon (or sth like this i'm not a bible expert^^). anyway, delilah means "falling ringlet" and i read somewhere (sry don't know exactly where :( ) that a person with this name is said to be weak (i mean the character here)... just like a schizo ;)
    Flag Joker_91on March 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think Delilah and Amanda are the same person, or two aspects of the same personality. I can just see this girl sitting in a bar all alone, slamming her fist down and debating whether to break up with this guy. But he's a scum! But they're in love!

    That's the only way the "schizo" thing makes sense to me. The girl is so trapped by this relationship, she's her own best friend and her worst enemy.
    Flag janeireon December 07, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that this song is a reference to the story of Samson and Delilah in the bible, sort of telling it from her point of view. Similar to Regina Spektor's Samson.
    Flag nora5436on November 24, 2009   Link

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