“Cranes in the Sky” by Solange is a love letter to the soul
Music is supposed to make you sing, dance, think, feel good and most of all create a melody to a moment that later becomes nostalgic when you hear it again.
The lyrics, combined with the musician’s tone of voice along with the mixture of treble and bass, could become a problem solver, an eye opener, a window into your own life sang by a complete stranger.
Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky” is a not-so-oldie, but goodie. In 2016, when Solange’s “A Seat at the Table” album dropped (on my birthday), I immediately downloaded and enjoyed it from beginning to end.
“Cranes” was the second single released and was a song she, reportedly, wrote eight years earlier, when she broke up with her son’s father.
I listened to it and kept it moving.
It was not until two years later I decided to replay the album and the lyrics awoken me in an unexpected way.
The first verse:
“I tried to drink it away
I tried to put one in the air
I tried to dance it away
I tried to change it with my hair”
WHAT!
Drop the karaoke mic.
Where’s the hidden camera?
Solange was singing to me!
The two years since I heard those lyrics bellow through my headphones, a lot — to say the least — has happened in my life and I found myself doing these exact actions Solange sang about.
What is it about traumatic situations that cause women to turn to these uncharacteristic behaviors?
The moment I picked up a handgun for the first time and bust a whole clip into a drawing of a man it felt liberating. But when I left the gun range, I didn’t feel more protected.
Cutting off my long locks into a pixie cut, I thought would make be feel different and erase the burden of the past. All it did was give me a harder hair length to maintain. Cute but short hair is a lot to handle.
Drinking excessively with friends and family did nothing, but give me headaches and my loved ones more to worry about.
Dancing the night away with my girlfriends are the greatest highlights.
Lighthearted fun.
Counting your blessings.
Looking at your situation and being thankful that it wasn’t worse. Appreciating being alive and able to dance — even off beat — are all highlights of appreciation.
The rest of “Cranes” are all other examples of irrational behaviors one might take during the aftershocks of trauma.
Instead of dealing with the events at hand, we mask and avoid. Most, simply, don’t have the time to deal and have too much to juggle to focus on gaining the treatment to maintain our wonderful selves.
As time goes by, the distractions build up and when confronted with the trauma again you get out of character again; crash and burn.
Those distractions, whether positive or negative, are the “Cranes” Solange saw in the sky.
The truth is, we are only harming ourselves. The bigger picture is our jaded shells are blocking blessings and the good vibes our loved ones send our way.
We must learn how to come to terms with things that are out of our control.
It’s hard, but dig deep and redefine yourself for yourself.
Thank you, Solange, for the reminder.
