Artist: The Decemberists
Album: The Crane Wife
Song: The Crane Wife 1 and 2
Tabbed by: Steve Goldberg (decemberists.com/orate)
[1]
Verse: |: G | G | G | G (F# walking bass) | Em | Em | Em | Em | C | C | C | C :|
Picking:
G
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|----0----0----0---------0----0-------|
|-------------------------------------|
|------------------0h2----------------|
|-3----3----3---------------3-----3---|
Em
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-----0----0-----0---------0-----0----|
|-------------------------------------|
|--------------------0h2--------------|
|--0-----0----0---------------0-----0-|
C
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-----0----0----0-----------------0---|
|--------------------0h2-0h2----------|
|--3----3----3-----------------------3|
|-------------------------------------|
"And all the stars..." |: D :|
Ending:
G Gm G
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|--2--4--2------2--3--2----4----------|
|-------------5------------5----------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
G
It was a cold night
Em
And the snow lay low
I pulled my coat tight
C
Against the falling down
And the sun was all
G
And the sun was all down
Em
And the sun was all
C G
And the sun was all down
G
I am a poor man
Em
I haven't wealth nor fame
I have my two hands
C
And a house to my name
And the winter's so
G
And the winter's so long
Em
And the winter's so
C
And the winter's so long
G Gm G
And all the stars were crashing around
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
G
It was a white crane
Em
It was a helpless thing
Upon a red stain
C
With an arrow its wing
And it called and cried
G
And it called and cried so
Em
And it called and cried
C G
And it called and cried so
G Gm G
And all the stars were crashing around
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
G Em
My crane wife, my crane wife
C G
My crane wife, my crane wife
Now I helped her
And I dressed her wounds
And how I held her
Beneath the rising moon
And she stood to fly
And she stood to fly away
And she stood to fly
She stood to fly away
And all the stars were crashing around
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
My crane wife, my crane wife
My crane wife, my crane wife
[2]
Dadd4
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-------------0----------------0--------|
|------0---------------0----------------|
|---------9----------------9------------|
|-10------------10----------------------|
Cadd2
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|----------0----------------------------|
|---------------------0-----------------|
|----7----------7-----------------------|
|--8---8------8---8---------------------|
G
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-----------------------0---------------|
|-----0----2----4-----------------------|
|--3----3----3----3---------------------|
"Sound the keening bell..."
Em
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-------0------0------0------0----------|
|-----------2--------------2------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-0-0-------------0---------------------|
Asus4
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|------2-----0-----2-----0--------------|
|---0-----0-----0-----0-----------------|
|---------------------------------------|
G
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-------------0-------------0-----------|
|------0------------0-------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|--3------3-----3------3----------------|
A
|----------------------------------------------------|
|------------3-----------4----------3-------------2--|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|------2--------2------------2-----------2-----------|
|---0----0----0-----0-----0-----0-----0-----0--------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
C
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-------------0----------------0--------|
|------2--------------2-----------------|
|--3------3------3------3---------------|
|---------------------------------------|
My crane wife arrived at my door in the moonlight
All star bright and tongue-tied I took her in
We were married and bells rang sweet for our wedding
And our bedding was ready when we fell in
The sound of the keening bell
To see its pain erect
Soft as fontanelle
The feathers and 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
The sound of the keening bell
And to see its pain erect
Soft as fontanelle
The feathers and the thread
And all I ever meant to do was to keep you
My crane wife
My crane wife
|| Em | Em | F | F | Em | Em | F | F ||: G | G | C | C :||
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
It rakes at my heart
My crane wife
#----------------------------PLEASE NOTE-----------------------------#
# This represents the author's own work and interpretation of the #
# song. To be used only for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#--------------------------------------------------------------------#