Cranes in the Sky
'I tried to drink it away... I tried to run it away...' Solange's hit song, began in 2008 and released eight years later, muses on themes of isolation, loneliness and depression.
“I tried to drink it away... I tried to run it away...” Solange’s hit song, written in 2008 and released eight years later, muses on themes of isolation, loneliness, and depression. She penned the lyrics to Raphael Saadiq’s instrumental in a Miami hotel room, gazing at cranes filling the skyline during the onset of the housing crisis.
Solange Knowles, the younger sister of Beyoncé, released her debut album in 2002 at the age of 16. This single appears on her third album, A Seat at the Table.
Featuring: Kiana Fitzgerald, Rebecca McNeil, Stephanie Phillips (author of Why Solange Matters and guitarist in Big Joanie) and Douglas Markowitz.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
On radio
Broadcasts
- Next Saturday10:30BBC Radio 4
- Next Monday16:30BBC Radio 4
Why Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come' became a Civil Rights anthem
Watch the animation - Professor Mary King describes how the song became a symbol of hope.
Podcast
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Soul Music
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
