Gregory Alan Isakov

Idaho

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Idaho Lyrics

Down in the bardo
There was nothing to hold while we let it go
We were empty, we were hollow
Shined with everything we were living for

And you see your soul
Like some picture show
Across Idaho

We were running through the autumn leaves
A couple kids just wearing out their jeans, running
Mary she's our autumn queen
Watch her smoking cigarettes in the street

And down she goes
Cold she blows
Across Idaho

There's lights up in the north
And I ain't wondering where you are
Yeah just lights up in the north

Now it's white as snow
Watch the evening glow
Across Idaho

Submitted by

ready Set Megan On Feb 11, 2010

The Stable Song

Big Black Car

That Sea, The Gambler

Master and a Hound

Amsterdam

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Expound

2018-11-07 16:30:59

ready set megan

Submitter

2010-02-11 19:38:38

4 Meanings

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by Expound

7y ago

Bardo = a state before one’s next birth or re-birth, often a time of great opportunity and liberation. Isakov is using this Buddhist idea as a metaphor for childhood. This song is a reflection on the narrator's childhood, something vast, open, limitlessly rich, and both aweing and calming when recalled, suggested to the narrator by the spaces and skies of Idaho in winter, another bardo and perhaps also a metaphor for the narrator's time of life. This is a masterpiece of word and music. JR

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by alexuninspired

16y ago

Probably my favorite song on the CD.

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by Stripeythecrab

14y ago

It seems to be about fond, perhaps also sad, memories of his past or childhood. Not sure who the "Mary" in the second chorus is - maybe a common friend with the addressee of the lyrics. No matter what the meaning, this is such a beautiful song! I love it!

My Interpretation

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by mike105758 7y ago

@Stripeythecrab I had the feeling that Mary was someone who had died. "down she goes"...

by jwright520

13y ago

hell of a nice song!

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