Song of the Week 5/19-5/25/25

Gregory Alan Isakov: "Dark, Dark, Dark"

There are some songwriters who write in the shadows of great songwriters. You feel it in their lyrics and the way they craft a song. Gregory Alan Isakov is one of those songwriters. You can feel the history of song in his lyrics.

A writer once said that he writes for three people and they are all dead.

I imagine Isskov might say something similar when listing those he writes in the shadow of—those he seeks to honor with his craft.

As Cormac McCarthy writes, We have nothing to sustain us but the counsel of our fathers.

Songs, the poetry of Isakov’s songs, offer what Frost called a momentary stay against the confusion of the world, and sometimes those songs, written in the counsel of our fathers, sustain us.

Won’t you sing me something for the dark, dark, dark

“Dark, Dark, Dark”

Maria’s on the hill
she was all “side of her eyes”
a five-dollar wine as a blanket inside
lay up the pages on a traveling bed
watch the Blood of Christ Mountains, oh they all turn red

howl at the half moon, radio queen
she’s all smoke, she’s all nicotine
the songs in my pocket just crumble apart
won’t you sing me something for the dark

Maria’s got wings, she’s got legs for the sea
a captain’s coat and a note for me
wake up Marie, before the season turns
set your dash for the coast, watch the Sangres burn

howl at the half moon, radio queen
she’s all smoke, she’s all nicotine
the songs in my pocket just crumble apart
won’t you sing me something for the dark, dark, dark