Empty Page (Live) - The Crane Wives

Odin - The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms

Margaret (The Crane Wives unreleased)

the crane wives - scarecrow bones (live)

Spring, and still 
Leaves have not all fallen from the trees; 

Holding hands and skipping 
Stones across the river; 

Flowers open 
Wider than I've ever seen; 

You can see them too, 
If you hurry— 
You can see them too, 
If you come back to me. 

Spiral bound 
The pages that you wrote to me; 

In between the letters lies 
A secret that I'm meant to see; 

It has been a season 
Since I have seen the sea, 

But we can go there soon, 
If you hurry— 
We can go there soon, 
If you come back to me. 

When I sit and sip my tea, 
You're facing me... 

You: a day, a month, a year ago— 
It's all the same to me. 

On every bus I see 
On every street I see 
In every passing pair of shoes 
I see... 

You. 

You can see me too, 
If you hurry... 
You can see me too, 
If you come back...

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Angelica Sather Hodgetts, cello

Stephan Nance — Spring

Blue-, blue-, blue-eyed 
Scruffy fella— 
Helicopters buzzed against 
Our cheeks and ears and necks and 
Turned us all around 
In terms of color: 
Blushing, queasy, spinning 
And irrevocably endearing 
Drinking fountains, puppies, penguins, 
Little lambs… 

Don’t you dare go 
Making me like you more; 
I hate you more and more 
Every second I’m with you; 
Every second you’re making me like you 
More and more, 
I hate you more 
I hate you more. 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 
But it’s still good. 

True, true, true, I would 
Be your boyfriend 
If you’d be mine, 
But this whole situation is 
Becoming so ridiculous— 
Mr. Potato Heart— 
Indeed, it seems 
You lack a few essential pieces; 
Would it be taboo for me 
To skip-bo right past go, 
Play operation and connect for good 
The clues to cure this sorry state of 
Constant aggravation? 

Don’t you dare go 
Pushing my love away 
If you’re gonna just 
Pick up the slack and 
Pull it right back 
In a stupid kind of tug-of-war game 
That I don’t wanna play— 
Unless I’m on your side, 
In which case 
I’ll be with you all the way. 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 

I could go a day without you 
I could go a hundred days 
But I’d spread those hundred days 
Out over a century 
If that’s okay with you 
Sometimes I get the feeling 
I’m just on display— 
Like some little punk’s been 
Pressing against me, 
Setting me off for a 
Pyrotechnicolorful 

Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Don’t you dare go 
Setting me off and 
Running away 
When I’ve got something 
I still want to say… 
Again! 

Firecrackers have no choice: 
The fuse gets lit, 
The voice comes shooting out 
In sparks and sparkles— 
And a minute 
Lasts a lifetime, 
Lasts a heartbeat, 
Never lasts for sixty seconds 
Like it should— 
And no matter what 
It’s never long enough— 
And no matter what— 
It’s never long enough— 
But it’s still so 
oh oh oh-oh-oh 
good!

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Merlin Showalter, drums 
Tim McLaughlin, bass/guitar

Stephan Nance — Firecracker

Rain falls down, 
And the rain compresses all the sounds into the ground. 
When the clutter goes away like this, 
The silence can be found. 

A silent color guard routine 
Flows forth from the flowers as they sing. 
Do you see? 
The stamina are heavy, 
But the filaments are glistening. 
And this is why we need the rain. 

The raindrops falling on my head must remain, 
Because the leaves and debris are clogging up the drain to my brain —
But a creek can carve a canyon, 
So I’m counting on a clean cut to christen me. 
I need the rain. 

Do you ever wonder why the rain was invented? 
Was it to put puddles where the streets have been dented, 
So we’ll have a place to play 
When we’ve had a lousy day? 

Nah, it was probably to melt the snow. 
Nah, it was probably to help the rivers flow. 
Nah, it was probably to soak the seeds we sow. 
Nah, it was probably to make the wild things grow. 
Nah, it was probably to give us all a show. 
Nah, it was probably to sooth the winds that blow. 
Nah, it was probably to let us know 
There’s something out there even when were all alone 
And if we listen real close 
We can maybe hear the tapping of its toes… 

I had lost myself, but I came back around. 
And I memorized the map before it seeped into the ground. 

I need the rain.

credits
from A Troubled Piece of Fruit, released 23 July 2012 

Stephan Nance, piano/vocals
Merlin Showalter, drums 
Tim McLaughlin, bass/guitar

Stephan Nance — Resurrection

ハシブト and ハシボソ
ガラス* caught colds
And シジュウカラ*
Got a yellow throat
And I feel
Like I don’t belong;
When I open my window
I hear all calls
No song

And in the forest
The lianas
Traded gold for evergreen
Threw shade
On the fauna
So ムササビさん*
Hides their head away
Can’t peek out
To catch some rays

Ooh ooh
家の家はどこですか
Ooh ooh
もう家の家はどこですか*

I spent
One month
In paradise
It ruined me
For other surroundings
I spent
Two months
In paradise
They stripped me clean
Of any lingering grounding

Reverse nature shock
An itinerant Song Sparrow* returns to the flock
With the distant stare of a Rough-legged Hawk*
With the deep despair of the last Great Auk*
Sticking a key in an electric lock

Ooh ooh
家の家はどこですか
Ooh ooh
もう家の家はどこですか

*ハシブトガラス — Large-billed Crow
*ハシボソガラス — Carrion Crow
*シジュウカラ — Japanese Tit
*ムササビさん — Musasabi-san (musasabi = Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel)
*家の家はどこですか... — Where's my home / Where's my home again?, or Where's my *home* home / Where's my *home* home again?
*Song Sparrow — ウタスズメ
*Rough-legged Hawk — ケアシノスリ
*Great Auk — オオウミガラス

Stephan Nance - vocals, piano, synth
Adam Caswell - programming
Milo Fultz - bass
Merlin Showalter - drums
Arrangement - Adam Caswell, Stephan Nance, & Merlin Showalter

Reverse Nature Shock (家の家)

The Crane Wives - Hard Sell

Lupine caught
my post-consumer fall
Lupine held me there beneath
a post-consumer bird call
Warbling the echoes of
The decadent
The digital

And I know
When I go
Where the coils glow
It isn't for the greater good
And I know
When I go
Where the coils glow
That I grow
But it isn't for the greater good

Lupine, popping open,
hurled seeds
Lured an unsuspecting Oregon Junco
To the bed of reeds
And through binoculars
The birder saw the SOS

And I know
When I go
Where the coils glow
It isn't for the greater good
And I know
When I go
Where the coils glow
That I grow
But it isn't for the greater good

Broken letter
Broken clock
Broken box of
Broken
Sidewalk chalk
Sidewalk chalk

Kanji and Cyrillic talk
Heart-to-heart in nearby sidewalk
chalk nearby side
walk chalk
nearby side walk
chalk nearby side
walk chalk

Lupine sought dispersal from the slope
Me, I only sought dismissal from
This missile-peppered envelope.

Envelope

One Last Hurrah

indie chamber pop (bardcore)
pronouns: they/them

Stephan Nance — Firecracker

Sparkbird