History Music / TheCraneWives

* AnimalMotifs: The singer of the "The Hand That Feeds" compares herself to an abused dog.

* BreakupSong: One romantic interpretation of "The Moon Will Sing" is that the singer is lamenting the "ten years of dust and neglect" they spent with their toxic ex.
-->''I wanna feel the fire that you kept from me''

* TheDogBitesBack: The central idea of "The Hand that Feeds":

* LoveMartyr: "Tongues and Teeth" has the singer tell her love interest that about how she is destructive and that they should only pursue her if they don't mind that.

* '''Tom Gunnells''' (banjo; left in 2015).

* CountingSheep: {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Counting Sheep", where the singer comments that those who don't show BlindObedience to the totalitarian leaders can stop doing this while trying to sleep at night "'cause you'll get your fill of [sheep] during the daytime".
* CynicismCatalyst: The singer of "Safe Ship, Harbored" describes that their SafetyInIndifference attitude was caused by past trauma through a ChangingChorus.
-->''I wasn't born a safe ship\\
Something wore me down\\
[...]\\
I wasn't born a safe ship\\
Someone wore me down''

You'll stop {{counting sheep}} at night\\

* CountingSheep: {{Discussed|Trope}} in "Counting Sheep", where the singer comments that those who don't show BlindObedience to the totalitarian leaders can stop doing this at night "'cause you'll get your fill of [sheep] during the daytime".

* PublicExecution: "Counting Sheep", being about living under a totalitarian dictatorship or equivalent, opens with a hanging in the morning news.

* CosmicMotifs: "The Moon Will Sing" is a breakup song built around the singer comparing themselves to the Moon and their abusive loved one to the Sun:
-->''I shine only with the light you give me''

->''I've seen good men spoiled, chained to their jobs like hounds\\

* CapitalismIsBad: The message of "The Hand That Feeds" is that capitalism promises workers "the great American Ruse" while exploiting them in turn, until they are too tired to fight the system and become cogs in the machine.

* StepfordSmiler: "Hard Sell" revolves around the singer struggling with their mental health and trying to find "a fresh new start buried underneath".
-->''I'm tryin' to make something of myself\\

-->''And as for time I am\\

* RunOrDie: "Rockslide" is about hearing a rockslide "from the peak" and running lest "the Devil we will meet".

* StepfordSmiler: "Hard Sell" revolves around the singer struggling with their mental health.

* BreakUpSong: One romantic interpretation of "The Moon Will Sing" is that the singer is lamenting the "ten years of dust and neglect" they spent with their toxic ex.

* AntiLoveSong: "Never Love An Anchor".

* BreakUpSong: One romantic interpretation of "The Moon Will Sing".
* BSODSong: "The Garden", "Curses", and "Never Love An Anchor".

* CapitalismIsBad: The message of "The Hand That Feeds".

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: "Curses" and "The Garden" from ''Foxlore'' are about a romantic relationship like this.

* ObsessionSong: "The Garden" and "Curses" verge on this.

* HeroicSelfDeprecation: "Never Love An Anchor" revolves around the singer's self-loathing having forced her to sabotage a possible relationship.
-->''On some level, I think I always understood\\
That these hands of mine were clumsy, not clever\\
[…]\\
And you'll never see the reasons I had\\
For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you\\
I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel''