Cranes in the Sky

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Cranes in the Sky
As long as
publication 5th October 2016
length 4:11
Genre (s) Contemporary R&B
Author (s) Raphael Saadiq , Solange, R8DIO
Producer (s) Raphael Saadiq, Solange, R8DIO
Label Saint , Columbia Records
album A seat at the table

Cranes in the Sky is a song by the US singer Solange from 2016. The first single from her third studio album A Seat at the Table was written and produced by the interpreter together with Raphael Saadiq and R8DIO .

background

Cranes in the Sky wrote that long eight years before its official publication. Music producer Raphael Saadiq handed her a CD at the time, which contained some instrumental titles. One of them, which stood out in its original form with a minimalist sound, was selected by her to write a text on it. That same night she wrote Cranes in the Sky in her hotel room . It was only while working on A Seat at the Table that the musician picked up the song again.

Music and lyrics

For Cranes in the Sky is a ballad in Contemporary R & B style. The music is characterized by a slow, dominant drum rhythm , which is continuously repeated, calm strings , a bass , and bright piano and harp tones . Solange's singing becomes higher in its key, especially towards the end, and harmonies are increasingly used.

In terms of content, the song thematizes the feeling of an inner emptiness, which the musician tries to stifle using various methods. These include, among other, the displacement by alcohol , dancing , reading , sex , shopping addiction , wines , artistic catharsis or separation from their significant other . She compares the negative emotions to an unsightly crane that blocks the view of the sky .

Music video

The video clip for Cranes in the Sky shows the singer in front of several different backdrops, some of which are interior shots of rooms and some of which are natural landscapes. She can be seen both alone and in the company of several other Afro-American women who dance with her in gentle movements, or stand, sit or lie still. She can be seen on the tiled floor of a house, where she is surrounded by two palm trees , in front of a mountain range , on a tree trunk in front of a meadow , in front of a large, white cloth , on a stone in the middle of a river , in a red room with a huge, surreally designed staircase, in front of a hill , on a staircase and several other locations. The protagonists are mostly dressed luxuriously or unconventionally.

criticism

Cranes in the Sky received extremely positive reviews almost unanimously. The song has been praised for the personal and mature manner in which Solange addresses the feeling of loneliness and the desperate attempt to overcome it. It is one of several outstanding moments on the album and would work through the great strength and development of the musician; it is a song that skilfully takes up motifs such as depression , escapism and the role of the singer as a black woman in the USA. The song is musically elegant, but has a rough emotionality. The bass played by Saadiq was repeatedly highlighted positively. The track is also the song through which the artist finally rises from the shadow of her famous sister Beyoncé .

Since its release, the song has appeared in several leaderboards. The magazines Rolling Stone , Billboard , Complex , The Village Voice , Musikexpress and Pitchfork each listed it among the best songs of 2016 in their annual reviews, sometimes even in the top ten. The latter also named it eighth best song of the 2010s in 2019 ; first-mentioned magazine in 2018 for the forty-third best title of the 21st century .

The song also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance.

success

Cranes in the Sky was a moderate commercial success in the musician's home country, the USA, reaching number 74 on the charts. There it was crowned with a gold record.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Album credits. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Edge Magazine article. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Lyrics. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  4. ↑ music video. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  5. ^ Pitchfork criticism. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  6. ↑ The Guardian Review. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  7. ^ Rolling Stone's "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century - So Far". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Rolling Stone's "50 Best Songs of 2016". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs of 2016". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Complex's "Best Songs of 2016". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  11. ^ The Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop: Top Singles of 2016". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  12. ↑ "The 50 best songs of 2016" by Musikexpress. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  13. ^ Pitchfork's "The 100 Best Songs of 2016". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  14. ^ Pitchfork's "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  15. ^ Rolling Stone's "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century - So Far". Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Solange's Grammy Awards. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  17. ↑ US charts. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  18. ↑ US award. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .