Left to right: Kate Pillsbury, Dan Rickabus, Emilee Petersmark, and Ben Zito.
The Crane Wives are an indie folk band from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their musical style is a strange mix of Indie Rock and Folk Rock, with heavy use of unusual instruments and vocal harmonies.
Their name is a Shout-Out to a Decemberists album, which is what lead to their fame; while being interviewed by NPR, Colin Meloy noticed a copy of their debut album and its band name, and took a photo with it, leading to a huge surge in interest in their music.
Members
- Emilee Petersmark (guitar/vocals)
- Kate Pillsbury (guitar/vocals)
- Dan Rickabus (drums/vocals)
- Ben Zito (bass)
- Tom Gunnells (banjo; left in 2015)
Studio Discography
- Safe Ship, Harbored (2011)
- The Fool in Her Wedding Gown (2012)
- Coyote Stories (2015)
- Foxlore (2016)
Live Discography
- Live from River City Studios
- Here I Am: Live from the Listening Room (2020)
- dogtownstudio recordings (2023)
The Crane Wives' music contains examples of:
- Animal Motifs: The singer of the "The Hand That Feeds" compares herself to an abused dog.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: "Never Love An Anchor" is a interesting example of this; its self-loathing protagonist loved someone, but believed they would be too bad of a person to be in a healthy relationship, so drove them away on purpose.
- Break-Up Song: 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
- Broken Bird: "Pretty Little Things" is sung from the perspective of a jaded lover who refuses to trust her new love interest until they've earned it after being mistreated by her exes.Maybe you're right and maybe I have been used up
By another man's hungry hands
And maybe you're right and maybe I have been ruined
By another man after him
And maybe I'm the one who's right
Maybe you will prove why
Women like me never fall for pretty little things - Canary in a Coal Mine: "Canary in a Coal Mine" is built on this — it's sung from the point of view of the canary, begging the miners to not forget how she saved their lives at the cost of her own.Feed me promises, keep my heart well
I'll sing you songs until the darkness does recede
But if in the end I lose my voice
Will you forget about your love for me? - Capitalism Is Bad: 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, and the workers have nothing left to lose by taking care of and standing up for themselves.I've seen good men spoiled, chained to their jobs like hounds
They work and sleep and work again, in the darkest nights, they howl
Their cries are a warning to everyone following
No man should stand to work all of his days and have nothing at the end of them - Careful with That Axe: An impressive example from "The Garden":THE DEVIL KNOWS MY NAME!
- Changing Chorus: In "Safe Ship, Harbored", the singer discusses how their Safety in Indifference worldview came about through a chorus that changes towards the end of the song.I wasn't born a safe ship
Something wore me down
[…]
I wasn't born a safe ship
Someone wore me down - Chronic Self-Deprecation: "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 - Counting Sheep: Discussed in "Counting Sheep", where the singer comments that those who don't show Blind Obedience 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".
- Cynicism Catalyst: The singer of "Safe Ship, Harbored" describes that their Safety in Indifference attitude was caused by past trauma, in that "something", or rather, "someone wore [them] down".
- Daddy's Girl: The singer of "The Hand That Feeds" idolises her father, who taught her the anti-capitalist ideals the song revolves around.
- A Deadly Affair: In "I Ain't Done", the singer sneaks out while her spouse is asleep to sleep with her lover, only to be found out by her spouse one night, resulting in both the singer and her lover being murdered that night. In the afterlife, singer declares that she has no regrets for being "a woman in love" and has all the time in the world to repent if she has to.Felt love's searing sting
You exposed my nightly wanderings
You put me in the ground
But I ain't done - Determined Defeatist: Implied. The protagonist of "Counting Sheep" lives under some sort of totalitarian society of a Crapsack World; they are aware of it and are "waiting for something", but are feigning fitting in with the social order because they know showing open resistance is futile.It's a losing battle
So why are you still fighting? - The Dog Bites Back: The central idea of "The Hand that Feeds":My papa taught me how to howl
How to bare my teeth and growl
He taught me that the hand that feeds
Deserves to be bitten when it beats
He taught me how to break my chains - Dysfunction Junction: Discussed in "Hard Sell", where the singer wonders if they are the only one to be close to breaking down, and eventually surmises that everyone should open up about their struggles.Does everybody have it together or are we all pretending?
- Fear Song: The romantic interpretation of "Never Love An Anchor" is about the protagonist being too afraid of hurting their lover to enter into a romantic relationship.
- Garden of Eden: "The Garden"'s references to the titular garden and its accursed apple tree are likely allusions to this.
- Genre Mashup: Their own description probably summarises it best:A home grown indie-folk outfit from Grand Rapids, Michigan that defies musical stereotypes.
- Grow Old with Me: The singer expresses this sentiment with their love interest in "New Discovery".I want to kindle a love that doesn't age
Even when all the years carve lines into your face - Haunted House: Used as a metaphor for trauma in "The Garden" and "Curses".
- Idiot Crows: A rare western example in "The Garden":The crows in the garden are laughing at my expense
- Jade-Colored Glasses: The protagonist of "Pretty Little Things" is cynical and distrustful towards their new love interest after being "used up" and "ruined" by her past toxic exes.Don't buy me flowers, it pains me to watch
Pretty little things wilt away - Love Martyr: "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.And I know that you mean so well
But I am not a vessel for your good intent
I will only break your pretty things
I will only wring you dry of everything
But if you're fine with that
You can be mine like that - Lyrical Dissonance: Many of their songs are quite cheerful and jaunty-sounding. Their lyrics, on the other hand…
- Mindless Sheep: "Counting Sheep" is about living as a Stepford Smiler in a dystopia and compares those who show Blind Obedience to the totalitarian leaders to sheep.When the wool is off your eyes
You'll stop counting sheep at night
'Cause you'll get your fill of them
During the daytime - Mortality Phobia: Alluded to in "The Hand that Feeds":And as for time, I am
Powerless to stop it
It keeps rambling on like a mad, wandering man - Parental Love Song: A variant. "Never Love an Anchor" is about a parent giving their child up for adoption, knowing that they couldn't care for the child in their current position and that their child would live a terrible life if they kept them.There are times when I still wonder about you
You are someone I have loved but never known
And you'll never see the reasons I had
For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you - Poor Communication Kills: According to Word of God, "The Well" is about "how withholding the truth to spare someone pain can create resentment and pain for both people".
- Protest Song: "The Hand That Feeds" is an anti-capitalism song.
- Public Execution: "Counting Sheep", being about living under a totalitarian dictatorship or equivalent, opens with a hanging in the morning news.Sigh into your cup of coffee
As you watch the morning news
There goes your good day
There's the knot on the noose - Run or Die: "Rockslide" is about hearing a rockslide "from the peak" and advising those around oneself to run for one's life lest "the Devil we will meet".I feel the quakin', honey
I feel it deep
Rocks are a-tumblin' while the people are asleep
Oh, I pray today, my soul to keep
But we best get a move on or the Devil we will meet - Safety in Indifference: "Safe Ship, Harbored" is centered around the singer encouraging their love interest to leave them out of a desire to Never Be Hurt Again.I am a safe ship, harbored
A safe ship, harbored
Losing all of my good years to the shallow water
I ain't proud
I ain't proud - Shout-Out: As noted, they are named after an album by The Decemberists.
- Solar and Lunar: "The Moon Will Sing" is a breakup song built around the singer comparing themself to the Moon and their abusive loved one to the Sun:I shine only with the light you give me
- Stepford Smiler:
- The protagonist of "Counting Sheep" takes medication and smiles while living in a Crapsack World to hide their true rebellious sentiments.Pop a pill and thus a smile
Feign contentment for a while
That's all you know how to do - "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
On better days, I go buy the hard sell
But I feel like I'm working with barbed wire and moth wings
'Cause I can't really get ahold of many things
I'm one deep breath away from a breakdown
My nerves are wrecked and coming unwound
The world is hostile and I'm fragile and I need
Someone to kiss the cuts and tell me to keep trying
- The protagonist of "Counting Sheep" takes medication and smiles while living in a Crapsack World to hide their true rebellious sentiments.
- Walking the Earth: Used as a metaphor in "The Hand That Feeds" to describe the relentless progression of time.
- Wanderlust Song: "New Discovery" uses discovering unexplored and exotic lands as a metaphor for a romantic relationship.I want to stand on the edge of the water
And see horizons stretch on forever
I want to know that there are lands
Not yet touched by human hands
I want to be the one
To find them - Working-Class Hero: The dirt poor anti-capitalist protagonist of "The Hand That Feeds":I got no money but the change
That jingles in my pockets
Reminding me how little I have
