~X~the crane wives~X~

Strangler Fig

Shallow River

Easier

Steady, Steady

Icarus

Lyrics:

Toeing a trench
In the mulch between
Your patch and mine
I stubbed myself on a treacherous thistle
And I cried out
If it were merely
A matter of a stray thorny bristle
A barrier screen could be laid
And I wouldn't miss you

We could go the distance
Were there more disease resistance
On your part
Nothing lasts forever
When you never
Let it start

Every day I pass this way
I expect to find you
Waiting for me
Beneath the branches
Of the buckeye tree
Waving a palmetto frond
Siphoning orange juice
With a barber pole-ish wand

Red horsechestnut?
Clever disguise
I, of course, guessed, but
Said you'd never naturalize

Species zag as seasons zig
Tough to keep plants in one place
Any chance they get, they diaspore
Or else transmutate
Traipsing looping garden paths
Chasing floodplain Tupelo
Tracing roots to Ponderosa
Tangling with a Strangler fig

Now in an old growth Bald-cypress stand
Knees locked in the strand swamp
Black- and yellow-crowned Night Herons
Abound in colonies
Conferring on me collective memory
My eyelids flutter
Orbits fill with water
Hemlock in my hammock
Limbs thrash, I spit and sputter
Alligator drags me under
Into the solution hole

To protect me from
Elements of fantasy
That thrive in shady reality
To offer respite from
The demands of gardening
To show me
Trees are just the fruit
Of an even bigger tree


Credits:

Produced by Josh Frigo
Co-produced by Stephan Nance
Stephan Nance - keyboard, vocals, backing vocals
Josh Frigo - banjo, guitar, backing vocals
Mathias Kunzli - percussion, drums
Josh Plotner - flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, bass clarinet
Yoed Nir- violin, viola, cello
Percussion arrangement by Mathias Kunzli
String arrangement by Yoed Nir
Strings recorded at Yoed Nir's Studios
Woodwinds arrangement by Josh Plotner
Woodwinds recorded at Josh Plotner's Studios
Lead vocals engineered by Adam Sweeney at Opal Recording Studio in Portland, Oregon
Vocal coaching by Nevada Jones and Adam Sweeney
Mixed by Josh Frigo
Mastered by Alex Dobbert
Artwork by Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design by Chad Lowe

Arboretum

OH MY FUCKING GOD NEW CRANE WIVES SONG, IM CLINICALLY UNWELL ABOUT IT

Arcturus Beaming⠀♡⠀the crane wives

Lyrics:

I know what you think of me
I know what you say
I know you’re only here
To poke and prod and analyze me

And you’re all wide-eyed and wondering
Why’d I leave, why’d I stay
Why’d I evolve beyond the point
Where you could recognize me

But I’m not so different
And so what if I am
Maybe I’ve changed
But I look at me and I don’t think I’m strange

I saw you from the pebble beach
With your spyglass in your hand
As you cursed into the spray
I am not ashamed to say
I prayed you’d never reach land

But I can’t say I’m astounded
You would track me down and come around
‘Cause it’s you and I always knew
It would never cross your mind
I might not want to be found

I’m not so different
And so what if I am
Maybe I’ve changed
But I look at me and I don’t think I’m strange

You know what I think of you
You know what I keep inside my walls
You know it all
And you know I’ve never been too good at standing tall

So call me inaccessible
And say that I left ‘cause I couldn’t deal
But I feel what I feel
And I had to leave it all behind so I could heal

I’m not so different
And so what if I am
Maybe I’ve changed
But I look at me and I don’t think I’m strange
I look at me and I don’t think I’m strange

credits:

Music and lyrics - Stephan Nance
Piano/vocals/backing vocals - Stephan Nance
Programming/bass guitar/cello/banjo/keys - Josh Frigo
Backing vocals - Annie Elise
Violin/viola - Collins McLaughlin
Drums - Jon Truman
Vocal recording engineer - Zhengxi Zhang
Vocal production - Annie Elise
Mixing - Josh Frigo
Mastering - Alex Dobbert
Artwork - Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design - Chad Lowe

Atlantisia

Begins With Me

Teeth chatter 
Automatically 
A beat clicking double-time 
To the crunch of snow 
An animal 
Licks a beater 
A Northern Flicker 
Clucks a whimper 
A beep goes off inside— 
Is it time 
— or just a timer?

Decalcomania 
Ironed on our hides by the 
Scarlet fever-stricken 
Two-bit hypocritical 
Neo-Puritans 
Turning on a dime.

What are they? 
A little more than kin 
And less than kind 
We live in the same 
But we run on 
Different time.

You are safe 
You are sound 
You are safe 
You are sound

I feel your frequency 
Resonate at my core 
Enkindle my extremities 
Echo through my bones 
Hiccup out its tones
[ . . . ]

We face apocalypses every day 
And fumble stricken phrases 
We ball up to play:

When we feel forlorn 
Just keep peeling those little oranges 
They keep stealing, we keep peeling 
Stuck on an uneven keeling 
Every Great and Snowy Egret's 
Speaking of my evening grossness 
Every Evening Grosbeak's 
Speaking of my great and snowy egress 
Even if we deviate 
Even if we deviate 
The ice rink's set to counterclockwise 
There's no exit till we skate

I lurch along the verge 
A strawberryless frozen biscuit 
My flimsy figure zero traps 
A miraculous lemniscate 
When the intercom comes through 
I think I've lost my refound calling 
Oh, Winter Tanager 
You help me walk but you leave me crawling. 
You are a cardinal 
You are a cardinal 
And I should be so lucky 
As to be a part of you at all

You are safe 
You are sound 
You are safe 
You are sound 
[ . . . ]

You bring the tropics to these chilly parts 
The contrast shocks my system 
Chilblains swell upon my heart.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano
Simeon Brown - violin
Milo Fultz - upright bass
Hannah Murawsky - bassoon
Hannah Pell - oboe
Lizzy Donovan - cello 
Merlin Showalter - drums, percussion
Arrangement - Stephan Nance & Merlin Showalter

Down The River -Foxlore -the crane wives

Luna Kat

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