Empty Page (Live) - The Crane Wives

Florida (demo)

October - The Crane Wives

Taking Turns (live) - The Crane Wives

NOT MY MUSIC

uploadin for me. this will be deleted once the officials come out

Predator -Crane Wives

Otra Noche Mas

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

Someday, 
Maybe ten, maybe twenty years from now, 
There will be a knock at your door. 
There will be a man standing there with a clipboard. 
And you will sign your name on the dotted line. 
The man will hand over 
A parcel bundled up in wool. 
You will look down to consider it; 
You will look up to say thanks, 
And the man will be gone... 

But a plaintive cry will draw your eyes 
To a baby pelican 
Sitting on your welcome mat, 
And the pelican’s eyes will dilate, 
And the eyes of the trees will dilate, 
And you will be a sea anemone: 
You will contract upon this contact. 

Will you feel small? 
And will you feel scared? 
And will you gasp for air 
And find there’s nothing there 
But a fatal mistake? 
Will you finally weigh what you have given 
Against what 
You take and you take and you take and you take. 

Somehow, 
You will think once again of the package in your hands 
You will begin to tug at the wool. 
It will come off easily in pieces, 
But it will cut right through the prints upon your fingers and 
It will pile up around you in a mountain of gauze 
In a car on a hospital train, 
Where the surgeons lack credentials 
And the scalpels are just saws. 

But a plaintive cry will draw your eyes 
To a baby pelican 
Sitting on your welcome mat, 
And the pelican’s eyes will dilate, 
And the eyes of the trees will dilate, 
And you will be a sea anemone: 
You will contract upon this contact. 

Will you open your arms 
To the birds? 
Will you open your arms 
To the trees? 
Will you repast them 
With your own blood? 
Will you finally give back 
The breath that you take? 
(and you take and you take and you take. 
You take and you take and you take and you take.) 

Somewhere, 
Underneath the many years of stinging fibers, 
You will find your gift. 
Will you ever understand what it means?

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Merlin Showalter, drums 
Tim McLaughlin, bass/guitar 
Angelica Sather Hodgetts, cello

Stephan Nance — Paid By Weight

You tell me that the boat is moving forward— 
Whatever that means when there is no land in sight. 
I’d always pegged you as a shorebird— 
But in light of certain facts, 
I’m inclined to take it back. 

Don’t underestimate me; 
This field of research is my specialty, my specialty! 
I will crack this hierarchy 
If it is the death of me, 
The death of me! 
The death of me… 

You tell me we are sailing on a one-way sea— 
I nod my head and hold my tongue. 
(You are an idiot!) 
You gave me a bum steer, crowing of your lofty views; 
I might have known you were 
A rooster on a booster seat! 

Don’t underestimate me! 
(Clearly there’s no danger of my underestimating you!) 
I will commandeer this vessel 
If it is the death of you, 
The death of you! 

—Must you respond so saltily? 
My faculties… 
Have long been… 
Bursting at the seams… 
Brimming as they are… 
With onomies, 
And ologies, 
And 
Memories! 
Memories! 
Memories! 

Don’t esterundimate me! 
I will hack this crierarchy! 
—Cut me, please—a little slack, I mean— 
Mental tacking’s never been my specialty. 
My knack is for a marked lack of strategy. 
But spin around and take another whack at me 
Look back at me — and see! 
I will stack up properly! 
If it is the death of me, 
The death of me, 
The death of me, 
The death of me!

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Angelica Sather Hodgetts, cello

Stephan Nance — One-Way Sea

No one can see
My bravery;
I stomp on humdrum ground,
I navigate mundane terrain.
But all the same,
An ancient flame
Ignites a fervency that
Surges into every vein.

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

In a previous life
I surely
Swept you off your feet
And carried you away
From the choking ash
And scorching heat,
To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

On every list
Of things to do,
An unchecked box reminds me
That the task of saving you
Remains undone
And unbegun
And unfulfillable 
Until the day we need to run
Until the day we need to run
We need to run—

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

In a previous life
I surely
Swept you off your feet
And carried you away
From the choking ash
And scorching heat,
To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

From form to form,
From place to place,
From birth to birth,
From death to death,
From earth to outer space—
From Plague and flood,
From fire and blight,
From each catastrophe
That threatens to eclipse your light—

Dash, jump, climb, crawl!
Gotta get out, gotta get out—
Dart, dive, fly, tumble!
Gotta get out, gotta get out
Gotta get you out, out, out!

To begin anew
Beyond the ruins of Pompeii
And to live
To see another sunny day.

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synth
Simeon Brown - violin
Maddi Krafve - alto & tenor saxophones
Tim McLaughlin - trumpet
Lizzy Donovan - cello
Arrangement - Adam Caswell & Stephan Nance

Pompeii

The Crane Wives - Unraveling

indie chamber pop (bardcore)
pronouns: they/them

Stephan Nance — Fall

Sparkbird