Berth by Gregory Alan Isakov Song Info
“Berth” is the first track of Gregory Alan Isakov’s 2018 album Evening Machines. Berth is a nautical term, referring both to a vessel’s mooring space at a dock and a bunk on a ship. In an interview with Atwood Magazine, Isakov said of “Berth”: “This is sort of a triumphant song for me. Getting through a really tough period of time.” Additionally, the biography on Isakov’s website shares some of the story behind the writing and meaning of “Berth”: “The string-swept opening track, “Berth”,…Isakov wrote and recorded during an all-night session. The original version of the song was 12 minutes long—and it wasn’t until Isakov and his brother…started editing and cutting verses that [Isakov] realized “Berth” was “an immigration song, about landing in this country and throughout time”—something he knew well, as a native of Johannesburg, South Africa, who moved to the U.S. as a child.”
