ONLY THIS ONCE (BETWEEN THE PILLARS MIX) [PROLOGUE — CINEMATIC GOSPEL, LOW STRINGS, FRAME DRUM, MALE CHOIR] [NARRATOR — LOW MALE] Forty years under FILL-ih-steenz hands. Then a barren house heard impossible plans. No razor. Set apart from the womb. A son would rise and begin to break the rule. [CHOIR] SAMSON. [ORCHESTRAL HIT] [MOVEMENT I — DESERT BLUES × PSYCHEDELIC ROCK] [MALE LEAD] Spirit started stirring. Young blood ran hot. Saw a woman down in Timnath— wanted what he saw. Father asked questions. Mother did too. They couldn't see what the LORD would work through. Then a lion came roaring in the vineyards alone— no blade, no spear, nothing in his hand. Spirit came mighty. Lion came apart like thread in the hand of a stronger command. [BLUES GUITAR BENDS INTO FUZZ] [MALE LEAD] Later: honey in the carcass. Sweet inside the strong. He carried that secret straight into a song. “Out of the eater—” riddle at the feast. Thirty men sweating, seven days at least. Threaten the bride. Press till she breaks. Secret gets traded. Everybody pays. They solve his riddle. His anger ignites. Thirty men in Ashkelon. Thirty changes that night. [HOOK — HEAVY MALE CHOIR] STRONG MAN! HARD ROAD! CALLING ON HIS LIFE BUT FIRE IN HIS SOUL! STRONG MAN! WATCH HIM GO— GOD CAN USE A MAN WHO STILL HAS THINGS HE DOESN'T CONTROL! [METAL RIFF] [MOVEMENT II — SOUTHERN METAL × INDUSTRIAL TRAP] [NARRATOR] His wife was given to another man. Samson came back. Found somebody changed the plan. [MALE RAP] Three hundred foxes. Fire in the grain. Vineyards. Olives. FILL-ih-steenz pain. Then fire answered fire— his wife and father burned. Samson answered violence with violence returned. Judah came nervous: “Man, they rule this place.” Three thousand came to bind one man and hand him to their hate. New cords tight. FILL-ih-steenz shout. Spirit hits— CORDS BURN OUT! [BEAT DROP] Jawbone. One hand. Nothing fancy. One thousand fall at Lehi. [MALE LEAD] Then the strong man nearly dies of thirst. Victory doesn't mean the body doesn't hurt. He calls to the LORD. Water comes. Spirit returns. Twenty years he judges while the border burns. [DUB BREAK — HUGE SUB, WOODBLOCK PERCUSSION, TAPE ECHO] [MOVEMENT III — DARK FUNK × BIG BEAT] [NARRATOR] Gaza. Midnight. Men waiting at the gate. Samson wakes early and refuses their fate. [MALE LEAD] Doors. Posts. Bar and all. Put the city gate up on his shoulders and walked. [BASS DROP] [NARRATOR — DRY] Not subtle. [GROUP] SAMSON! [MOVEMENT IV — TRIP-HOP × DARK TRANCE] [LOW SYNTH PULSE] [NARRATOR] Then came Delilah. Valley of Sorek. FILL-ih-steenz silver behind every question. [MALE LEAD — HALF-SUNG] “What makes you weak?” Seven fresh cords. Wrong. New ropes. Wrong. Seven locks woven tight. Still wrong. Again. Again. Again. Till the question wore the strong man thin. [TRANCE ARP BUILDS] Finally he opened all his heart. No razor had touched him from the start. Set apart from his mother's womb. He sleeps. The blade comes. Seven locks fall in the room. [INSTRUMENTS CUT TO SILENCE] [WHISPERED MALE] He woke up thinking: “Like before.” [LOW SUB ENTERS] [NARRATOR] But the LORD was departed. [DOOM GUITAR ENTERS] [MOVEMENT V — DOOM METAL × PRISON BLUES] [NARRATOR] Eyes put out. Brass on his hands. Down in Gaza grinding for the men who used to fear him. No gate on his shoulder now. No jawbone. No shout. Just darkness. Stone. And time. [SINGLE PIANO NOTE] [NARRATOR] But— [MALE CHOIR] THE HAIR BEGAN TO GROW. [ORGAN SWELL] [MOVEMENT VI — GOSPEL × ORCHESTRAL × TRANCE] [NARRATOR] Temple of Dagon. Lords in their pride. Thousands above him, watching from every side. “Bring out Samson. Let him make us sport.” Blind man asks the lad: “Put me where the pillars hold the court.” [MUSIC FALLS TO HEARTBEAT-LIKE FLOOR TOM] [MALE LEAD — QUIET] O Lord GOD... remember me. Strengthen me— only this once. [LONG PAUSE] [MALE CHOIR BREATHES IN] [FINAL BUILD — ALL GENRES COLLIDE] [DESERT BLUES GUITAR + INDUSTRIAL DRUMS + GOSPEL ORGAN + DOOM RIFF + TRANCE ARPEGGIO + MASSIVE SUB] [MALE LEAD] RIGHT HAND— ONE PILLAR! LEFT HAND— THE OTHER! [CHOIR] ONLY THIS ONCE! [LEAD] LET ME DIE WITH THE FILL-ih-steenz! [FINAL DROP — MASSIVE BASS + ORCHESTRAL COLLAPSE] [NARRATOR — OVER FALLING CHORDS] He bowed with all his might. House came down. Lords. Crowd. Roof. Stone. The dead at his death were more than in his life. [IMPACT CUT — FULL BAND DROPS OUT] [BRIEF SILENCE] [OUTRO — SOLO PIANO + LOW ORGAN ENTERS] [NARRATOR] His family came. Carried him home. Buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol. Twenty years he judged Israel. [PAUSE] Born under a promise. Buried under the weight of a complicated life. [MALE CHOIR — VERY SOFT] Only this once. [FINAL LOW SUB NOTE — FADE TO SILENCE]
