(The Crane Wife 1)
It was a cold night
And the snow lay 'round
I pulled my coat tight
Against the 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

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 crashing 'round
As I laid eyes on what I'd found
My crane wife, my crane wife
My crane wife, my crane wife

(The Crane Wife 2)
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
Sound the keening bell
And see its painted red
Soft as fontanel, the feathers in the thread
When 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 she told me her weaving
Could bring it back
But I was greedy, I was vain
And I forced her to working
And sleepily she wove me
Such perfect cloth

Sound the keening bell
And see its painted red
Soft as fontanel, the feathers in the thread
When 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
Rakes at my heart, heart
Heart, heart
Heart, heart
Heart, heart
Heart, heart
My crane wife
(The Crane Wife 3)
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 while 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 gray sky, a bitter sting
A rain cloud, a crane on wing
All out beyond horizon
A gray sky, a bitter sting

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