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The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
Thu., Nov. 16. 2023 12:42am EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our 23rd single of 2023:
QUIZZICAL
Shortly after we released this parody on a single, I was struck by the irony that we'd spoofed "Physical" for a song in which Delilah is trying to discover the source of Samson's strength. After all, Samson is probably the most physical of all the heroes in the Bible, although there isn't much evidence that he was necessarily a physical specimen.
I mean, think about it: Nobody could figure out how he accomplished such superhuman feats, which seems to suggest that he wasn't a musclebound hulk. Whatever his physique, Samson was overcome by Delilah's relentless interrogation. Of course, that wasn't the only questionable behavior she was engaged in.
I got the idea for "Quizzical" on July 9, 2022, but didn't write the lyrics until September 2023.
I remembered from an email exchange with Keely Singer in September 2019 that she loved Olivia Newton-John. Keely hadn't recorded with ApologetiX since April 2017, and I knew she had a busy schedule, so I wasn't sure if she'd be available, let alone interested. Thankfully, she was. And her performance definitely didn't disappoint, although I never had any doubts about that.
If you've played the board game Scrabble, you know that Q and Z are the letters worth the most points, because they're not commonly used, so it was nice to get our second parody title beginning with Q. However, as was the case with the first ("Quite a God"), I didn't call it "Quizzical" for that reason and only noticed much later.
TAKE MY GUEST AWAY
Although we didn't release this song until November 2023, I first talked with Keely Singer many years earlier about possibly singing a parody of "Take My Breath Away" someday. At the time I was planning to call it "Take My Death Away," perhaps pertaining to one of Lazarus' sisters or one of the women whose sons were brought back to life through the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.
Then, on July 14, 2022, while I was working on songs for our Samson rock opera, the inspiration for "Take My Guest Away" came to me. In the fall of 2023, we scheduled Keely to sing it at the same session as "Quizzical." We set a date well in advance, October 31, a fitting day to record this haunting ballad. I wrote the lyrics earlier that month.
I knew it would be Delilah's farewell number and the most serious song she'd sing, so I gave careful consideration to what might have been going through her head and heart. Had she ever truly loved Samson? The Bible doesn't say. Whatever the case, she obviously loved money more. The Philistine rulers promised that each one of them would give her 1100 pieces of silver.
I am reminded of a story I heard about a man who asked a woman if she would sleep with him for a million dollars. She agreed. Then he asked if she would sleep with him for a dollar. "What kind of a woman do you think I am?" she exclaimed. "We've already determined what kind of woman you are," he replied. "We are merely dickering over the price."
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