Idaho has been way too private for the B-52s over the years — or maybe it’s the other way around.

The new-wave party band, which formed in Athens, Ga., in 1976, soon sailed up the charts with several hits, including a quirky, paranoid song four years later called “Private Idaho.” It inspired the title to a Gus Van Sant movie and, among other things, fired up hockey fans at Steelheads games not so long ago.

Yet, somehow, the B-52s have never performed in the Gem State, says singer Fred Schneider.

“We don’t book our tours,” he explains. “We need promoters to bring us.”

So it’s finally happening. The B-52s will headline an outdoor concert Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Eagle River Pavilion.

It could be a strangely cathartic evening. All those years of pent-up state pride will erupt from B-52s’ fans. And all those questions we ever had about “Private Idaho” — How was the song inspired? What are those ominous lyrics about? — will be answered.

Or ... not.

Schneider, the yelping, borderline-frantic half of the B-52s’ “boy vs. girls” signature sound, coined the song title. But you get the feeling that even he isn’t sure about the significance of lyrics about wild potatoes and bottomless pools. Not to mention: Why exactly are we living in our own private as opposed to public Idaho?

“It’s sort of a combination of ‘private eye’ and — it’s just basically a song about, ... ” Schneider says before starting over.

“Idaho is pretty mysterious to, you know, all of us,” he continues. “I know it’s a beautiful state, but then I know there’s also a lot of crazy right-wingers and all that stuff.

“Well, actually a lot of my friends have summer homes there,” he adds.

We can see where this is going. Idaho’s reputation used to be a tad eccentric, right? Especially the northern part of the state. So combine this general sense of wackiness with a private eye/Idaho play on words, and you have a hit song.

“Just basically that,” Schneider says. “We just take a title or an idea, and we run with it, and we all collaborate and piece it together.”

But what about those lyrics about “swimming ’round and ’round like the deadly hand of a radium clock”?

“In Athens, a lot of people were dying from tongue and throat cancer because they painted the radium dials on watches. They would dip their tongue and then dip it in the radioactive paint,” he says.

And that relates to Idaho how?

“It doesn’t relate to Idaho,” Schneider says. “The song’s about all different things. It’s not like a parody of Idaho or anything.”

The best course of action probably is to do what the vast majority of music fans do to B-52s songs: Shout along gleefully to the chorus and go-go dance to the rest of the words in ignorant bliss.

There’s a chance Schneider could be struck by an epiphany and give fans a deeper glimpse into the meaning of “Private Idaho” between songs. He likes to be extemporaneous on stage — not just to entertain fans, but to entertain the other members of the B-52s.

“I’ve tried never to repeat my stage patter unless it was really good and ridiculous,” he says.

“I’ve been to shows where people say the exact same thing in every single show. Like Cher did it, and I thought she was just being off the cuff. But we opened two shows for her, and she did the exact same off-the-cuff-seeming patter both nights.”

He chuckles: “Drives me crazy.”

Exceptional banter or not, the B-52s undoubtedly will enjoy a jubilant, receptive tour stop in Eagle.

Seriously, how many places have a built-in B-52s crowd like Idaho?

It’s not like there’s a “Love Shack” state or something, too.

“No ‘Love Shack’ state — but there’s a ‘Love Shack’ X-rated video store,” Schneider declares with a laugh.

No way — in L.A.?

“No, it’s in Georgia,” he says.

“Then after ‘Love Shack’ came out, there was a triple-X-rated movie that came out called ‘Love Shack.’ A friend went to see it just because of the title, and I said, ‘Well, did it have a theme song?’”

• For details about the B-52s’ concert in Eagle, see page 24.

ON THE BLOG

Singer Kenny Loggins, who performed at Eagle River Pavilion Wednesday night, spent the afternoon doing something more important. He visited a Treasure Valley fan on hospice care. Check my “Words & Deeds” blog for the touching story and photo.

Michael Deeds co-hosts “The Other Studio” at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM; he appears Thursdays on Channel 6 News.