The Crane Wife
Occupation
- Accordion, Backing Vocals, Electronic Piano, Glockenspiel, Harmonium art, Moog synthesizer, percussion, Hammond organ: Jenny Conlee
- Acoustic guitar, bouzouki, guitar, lyrics, percussion, vocals: Colin Meloy
- Backing Vocals, banjo, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, guitar, dulcimer, pedal steel guitar, percussion, electric guitar: Chris Funk
- Backing vocal, bass guitar, percussion, cello, double bass: Nate Query
- Backing Vocals, Keyboard: Christopher Walla
- Backing Vocals, Percussion, Drums: John Moen
- Backing Vocal: Ezra Holbrook
- Viola, Violin: Eyvind Kang
- Hand Drum: Steve Drizos
The Crane Wife is the fourth studio album by American indie folk band The Decemberists. It was released on 3 October 2006 in the USA by Capitol Records. It was produced by Tucker Martine and Christopher Walla ( Death Cab for Cutie ). The Crane Wife is based on a Japanese folk tale. The focus of the album are two songs, The Crane Wife and The Iceland, the latter is inspired by William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The album cover was created by Carson Ellis, Colin Meloys wife.
Action
The Crane Wife is an old Japanese legend. A poor man finds an injured crane, takes him to his home and nurses him back healthy. After he released the crane again, a woman comes to his door. He falls in love with the woman and marries her soon after. Since both are very poor, offers his wife to sew wondrous silk dresses and sell them on the market - but only if he promises never to watch her in the production. The clothes are selling well and the man asks his wife that she weaves even more than before. The more increases his lust for wealth, the worse it's his wife. One day he watched her as she makes the clothes. However, sits not his wife, but a crane, the ausrupft his own feathers on the loom. When he sees the man, he flies away and never come back.
Colin Meloy heard the story and decided to write music.
Title list
Bonus Tracks
Reviews
The Crane Wife was very well received by many critics. The Metascore the album is currently at 84 %. The listeners of National Public Radio chose The Crane Wife at the best album of the year 2006. In the prestigious Pitchfork Media list of the best albums of the year, it was ranked 41st Until December 2008, 284,000 copies of the album were sold in the U.S..
Others
The song The Crane Wife, Pt. 3 were played in different series episodes and commercials:
- In commercial We by Mike Mills for AT & T, in partnership with the U.S. team to the Summer Olympic Games in 2008.
- In the fifth episode of the sixth season ( My Friend with Money ) U.S. sitcom Scrubs -.
- In the sixth episode of the first season ( Maxxie and Anwar ) from Skins - Close Up.
- In the trailer for the movie Sunshine Cleaning.
- Was covered by Marianne Faithfull on the Late Show with David Letterman March 31, 2009, and on April 14 at Later with Jools Holland.