note - I do N O T take A N Y credit for this track and will it remove if I'm asked to by the original creator

Allies or Enemies - by The Crane Wives

Ta-da!
Today
The headache finally goes away
The headache finally goes
Ta-da!
Today
I feel the harmony between
My heart and body and my brain
Everything will be okay

And if you ask what bird I want to be
I'll say a blue jay
If you ask what time I want to leave
I'll change the conversation
If you lean in close and kiss me
I won't mind
I’ll probably respond in kind

Ta-da!
Today
I find the energy to play
I find the energy
Ta-da!
Today
I hear a friendly melody
In every enemy refrain
Everything will be okay
Everything will be okay

Ta-da!
Today
I see the light across the bay
Ta-da!
Today
A sudden symphony
is somewhere out there trumpeting my name
Everything will be okay

And if you ask what bird I want to be
I'll say a blue jay
If you ask what time I want to leave
I'll change the conversation
If you lean in close and kiss me
I won't mind
I’ll probably respond in kind
I’ll probably respond in kind
I’ll probably respond in kind
I’ll probably respond in kind.


credits

released January 7, 2022
Music & lyrics by Stephan Nance
Arrangement by Stephan Nance

Piano/vocals - Stephan Nance
Percussion - Mathias Kunzli
Electric bass - Jeni Magana
Trumpet - Jackie Coleman

Mixing & mastering by Thaddeus Moore, Liquid Mixing & Mastering

Recorded in Portland, Los Angeles, and New York

Artwork by Rebecca DeMoss
Graphic design by Chad Lowe

Blue Jay

This song was written and produced completely in my dorm with a $20 mic. Forgive me for the oddities it causes. 

Background:
And Eve was told not to eat the fruit, because "she would surely die." Instead, she learned information that she was not given before—she gained a power in that sense; she became the apocalypse.  What other powers are women "forbidden" from, all in the name of holiness? Maybe we should take a bite of that apple, feel some warmth from that lit match, explore ourselves, explore each other. They are baptizing the candles of tomorrow: they are snuffing flames. Why? They're scared of the heat we might just bring to the table. Mwah-ha-ha...

I digress... lyrics!!:
baptiser, baptise her, rose water, soft daughter
rectify and sanctify her, hold a moth and let it flutter
Don’t forget to floralize, don’t vocalize the smoke in eyes
Don’t don’t don’t strike.
catchin’ on that distant lie she’s gotta be divine
death-defier hanging on a burning tether line
then line breaks, spine aches, coiled snake, broken rope and Joanie chokes
they hope her perfume’s stronger than the soul

They’ll put an apple in your hand but don’t you dare bite it
A match and a wick but don’t you dare light it
They say temptation be a sin, don’t look any more behind it
That’s just how it is, don’t you dare fight it
They’ll put an apple in your hand but don’t you dare bite it
A match and a wick but don’t you dare light it
Life’s only meant to live, don’t fill it with excitement
Abstain, restrain, forgive, yeah, that’s how he likes it

Wax-dripper, flame-kisser, lost-livered life giver
Crucify and waterlog the sinner mother, sinner daughter
She could take you by surprise   
Beware the July fire ides
She’s a locked and loaded inferno with underglow she cannot know so drown that power fore it overflows
Sorry man, it’s way to late, her choice is made, the apple’s ate, the candle starts to flicker in a wicked little divine state
Rising and rising, gently respiring

she can’t let the candle burn
She can’t let the candle burn
So they’ve gotta teach her so she knows how to learn
That she can’t let the candle burn

CANDLEBURN

CANDLEBURN (Dorm Demo)

team best, last life
credits to cherrifire for the cover

the crane w̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ lives - can't have it all

The Well- The Crane Wives

loather:
remember when all the things that u did
n all the things that u wore
n all the things that u said
i just cant see myself breathing the same air as you 
and my heart jus blows up keep staring at those tools

and everything is okay
and everyone is alright
and my heart cuts itself open
im not the one that you’re hoping for
i see the glass and all the shards shred my skin 
u never want me to win
is this finally the end?

i took a knife to my gut
filled it with pills and some drugs
the scars all of them are there
im addicted to the hunt
baby i can’t even front
im in my room im fucked up 
yea i cant even see the sun

wash away all the blood
the texts are starting to flood
i might jus go MIA
i think i dont deserve this stuff
i dont deserve my guitar
i dont deserve my own voice
i dont deserve all my friends
i dont deserve to feel things

pills n sum drugs #faith *lyrics in desc*

Tracked and Mixed by Ian Gorman at La Luna. Mastered by Glenn Brown.

The Crane Wives - The Garden

All my antics and my gibberish 
Put a damper on my sentences; 
I'm a [cuddlefish/cuttlefish] 
Trying to cover up my incompetence. 
Maybe your fancy just isn't ticklish— 
Maybe your heart belongs to another fish— 
But on your part that'd be foolish. 
Baby, I think you ought to think through this. 

The sea is big, big, big, 
And it's full of scary things! 
Like great white sharks, 
And colossal squid! 
And I'm worried about you... 
I don't want you to get hurt. 
I don’t want you to get hurt... 
I don’t want you to get hurt. 

If you love something 
(So they say) 
You should set it free. 
But I disagree— 
'Cause I can safely say that 
Catching and releasing 
Isn't what I'd want for me. 

I know I know better than you do 
What is best for you to do— 
Can't you see the logic there? 
It's superlogical. 
My perspective is an outside one, 
And that's really saying something 
'Cause we don't have mirrors 
And since we're under the water, 
There isn't a surface 
For you to see your reflection in... 
Not that you don't look nice! 
(In fact, how wonderful you look 
Is exactly what the problem is....) 

The sea is big, big, big, 
And it's full of scary things! 
Like great white sharks, 
And colossal squid! 
And I'm worried about you... 
I don't want you to get hurt. 
I don’t want you to get hurt... 
I don’t want you to get hurt. 

It guts me every time 
I hear you're frequenting 
Such sketchy dives. 
It's not like it's a crime, 
But what if you get caught by a scuba diver 
Just like Nemo and I can't find you? 

Still I'd never cease my quest for you— 
What else would there be for me to do? 
Sure, there are plenty of fishes in the ocean, 
But not one of them could ever get a hook in my devotion. 
So my love for you supports recent scholarly publications 
Reporting that fish have a greater capacity for memory 
Than was previously believed, 
And I will miss you for the rest of my life.


from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals

Stephan Nance — Cuddlefish

I saw you again 
For the first time in ages 
You looked just the same 
But you sounded so different 
Your manner of speaking and 
The tone of your voice 
Were so changed. 

If I were a bird 
I’d have fluttered away 
But as I don’t have wings 
I was required to stay 
In my place at the register 
Ringing you up 
In the most awkward way 
In that stupid café... 

I saw you again 
For the first time in ages 
You looked just the same 
But you sounded so different 
Your manner of speaking and 
The tone of your voice 
Were so changed. 

And I’d never seen that shirt before 
And I’d never seen that bag before 
And I shouldn’t want to see you more 
Often, but I do... 

And I’d never seen that scarf before 
And I’d never seen that hat before 
And I shouldn’t want to see you more 
Often, but I do, I do, I do... 

It’s been a whole year. 
It’s been twelve whole months. 
The innumerable minutes— 
I counted each one. 
In a manner of speaking 
I still really love you 
And I can’t get you, can’t get you 
Out of my head. 

I’ve spent all this time 
In extensive reflection 
And in my recollection 
The things that I said 
Were gratuitous 
In their emotional content 
And I’m sorry 
If saying them scared you away. 

I shouldn’t have acted the way that I acted 
I shouldn’t have called you 
I should have retracted 
The things that I said 
At the moment I said them 
Or better yet 
I should’ve never been born. 

I should have retracted 
The things that I said 
At the moment I said them 
I shouldn’t have called you 
I shouldn’t have acted the way that I acted 
I need to be punished 
I need to be punished 
I need to be punished 
I need to be punished... 

Every thought inside my head 
Is suddenly exploding; 
Every object in my room 
Is suddenly too dull; 

Everything I feel inside my heart 
Is fully inappropriate; 
Every object in my room 
Is suddenly too dull... 

There’s only a window there 
Only a window there 
Only a window, only a window 
(You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it) 
There’s only a window, only a window, only a window, only a window there… 

There’s only a window there 
Only a window there 
Only a window, only a window 
(You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it) 
There’s only a window, only a window, only a window, only a window there… 

... 

There’s only a window there 
Only a window there 
Only a window, only a window 
(You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it) 
There’s only a window, only a window, only a window, only a window there… 

There’s only a window there 
Only a window there 
Only a window, only a window 
(You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it) 
There’s only a window, only a window, only a window, only a window there… 

There’s only a window there 
Only a window there 
Only a window, only a window 
(You can do it you can do it you can do it you can do it) 
There’s only a window, only a window, only a window, only a window there… 

I close my eyes and 
In my memories, 
I’m drowning in your coat; 
I’m gathering the leaves that fall... 

In my memories, 
I’m drowning in your coat... 
I’m just jumping in the leaves 
that 
fall....

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Tim McLaughlin, bass/guitar

Stephan Nance — Fall

Land in my mind 
Crawling through the sound 
I found it 
Now I recognize it 
Everywhere 
Everywhere it's aground

Swimming up a concrete river 
Paddling through pine and pavement 
I melted 
Blent in and then 
Recemented

Inside an unprotected 
Hostel suite 
Astride a bicycle 
Defrosting wheat 
Atop a tower with an 
Unrevolving view 
Of illuminated sails

Grey and green 
Grey and green 
The brightest blue could 
Never come between 
Grey and green and 
Amber

Rowing toward a lowered drawbridge 
Clambering onto the Seawall 
Confecting cloud-covered cinnamon rolls 
Wowed by crowds of 
Glaucous-winged Gulls

See? 
No sea. 
Look at the harlequins! 
—I wish you'd said to me. 
Over a decade I discerned 
A path 
My passport went defunct 
Now that junket's out of reach

Grey and green 
Grey and green 
The reddest flags 
Forever come between 
Grey and green and 
Amber

Everybody's body sways 
In unfamiliar funny ways 
Traveling on rainbow 
Wheels of color down below 
The crows pecking suet-surfaced streets 
The subway sounds resounding beats 
Beckoning me to retreat 
On the heels of mighty feet!

But where there's a will 
There's a way 
And I will 
Every day 
Until I dry 
Every day until I dry—

Wait 
Wait 
Don't tell me 
Blare the Heritage Horns 
But I won't leave

I haven't heard firstear 
The 9 o'clock gun 
Or the steam chimes

I've yet to feel firstfoot 
The boom of the Sooty Grouse 
In the mountain woods

I have more notes to take 
On the colors of the 
Land in my mind

I have a wish 
To blow through the mist 
Of the dandelion fountain

I have a truth 
To seek in the xeriscape 
Of the hill on the hill

I have 
a past, a present, and a future 
In this city

Maybe no more than moments 
But there's still a possibility.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano
Jon Caponetto - trombone
Amy Kappeler - flute
Tim McLaughlin - trumpet
Nehemiah Nance - trumpet
Additional vocals - Adam Caswell, Amy Kappeler, Lyle Nance, Rebecca Waterman
Arrangement - Adam Caswell & Stephan Nance

Grey & Green

The Crane Wives - High Horse

indie chamber pop (bardcore)
pronouns: they/them

Stephan Nance — Cuddlefish

Sparkbird

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