The Crane Wife 1, 2 & 3

I like my songs tough and challenging.
Especially so when they lack the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus(*yawn)-bridge-chorus structure.

Even better if the song lacks a proper chorus.

Colin Meloy (of The Decemberists, duh) uses such obscure words that I will, in a future entry, talk about the words that I had to search the dictionary to get a proper understanding of. This song, I had to check fontanel and found the correct meaning in a medical dictionary! He is probably the only person to ever use the word dirigible (found the meaning in a dictionary of difficult words) in a song....amazing!

I.

It was a cold night
And the snow lay 'round
I pulled my coat tight
Against it falling down
And the sun was all...
And the sun was all down
And the sun was all...
And the sun was all down

I am a poor man
I haven't wealth nor fame
I have my two hands
and a house to my name
And the winter's so...
And the winter's so long
And the winter's so...
And the winter's so long

And all the stars were crashing 'round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found

It was a white crane
It was a helpless thing
Upon a red stain
With an arrow in its wing
and it called and cried...
and it called and cried so
and it called and cried...
and it called and cried so

And all the stars were crashing 'round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found

My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife

And now I helped her
And now I dressed her wounds
And now I held her
Beneath the rising moon
And she stood to fly...
And she stood to fly away
And she stood to fly...

And she stood to fly away

And all the stars were crashing 'round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found

My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife

II.
My crane wife arrived at my door
In the moonlight
All starbright and tongue-tied
I took her in
We were married
And bells rang sweet for our wedding
And our bedding was ready
And we fell in

Sound the keening bell
And see it's painted red
Soft as fontanelle
The feathers in the thread
And all I ever meant
To do was to keep you
My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife

We were poorly
Our fortunes fading hourly
And how she loved me
She could bring it back
But I was greedy, I was vain
And I forced her to weaving
On a cold loom
In a closed room
Down the hall

Sound the keening bell
And see it's painted red
Soft as fontanel
The feathers in the thread
And all I ever meant
To do was to keep you
My crane wife
My crane wife
My crane wife

There's a bend in the wind
And it rakes at my heart
There is blood in the thread
And it rakes at my heart
My crane wife

III.
And under the boughs unbowed
All clothed in a snowy shroud
She had no heart so hardened
All under the boughs unbowed

Each feather it fell from skin
'Til threadbare, she grew thin
How were my eyes so blinded?
Each feather it fell from skin

And I will hang my head, hang my head low
And I will hang my head, hang my head low

A grey sky, a bitter sting
A raincloud, a crane on the wing
All out beyond horizon, oh
A grey sky, a bitter sting

And I will hang my head, hang my head low
And I will hang my head, hang my head low

My taste is difficult and definitely not recommended. My medical condition is a result of my challenging taste. It's not "high" or "acquired". Just plain weird.