"Cranes in the Sky" is a song by American singer and songwriter Solange. Released on October 5, 2016 by Saint Records and Columbia Records, it is the first single from Solange's third album, A Seat at the Table. The song was written by Raphael Saadiq and Solange, and produced by Sir Dylan along with Saadiq and Solange.

"Cranes in the Sky" is an mid-tempo soul ballad, that lyrically explores the singer's unsuccessful attempts to distract herself from a longstanding pain. The single's accompanying music video was directed by Solange and her husband Alan Ferguson. Following its release, "Cranes in the Sky" debuted at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

Solange wrote "Cranes in the Sky" eight years before the album's release. In 2008, producer and singer Raphael Saadiq handed Solange a CD with a few instrumentals on it. One consisted simply of drums, strings, and bass. Two months later, Solange wrote "Cranes in the Sky" while listening to the instrumentals in a Miami hotel. In 2016, when she had finished writing and creating A Seat at the Table in New Iberia, Louisiana, Solange revisited "Cranes in the Sky"—shortly after which she called Raphael and asked if he would help produce a few other songs on the album. Lyrically, the song explores the idea of attempting to avoid the elephant in the room. It describes a person looking to distract themselves in various ways from an unaddressed sadness. In speaking of the title, Solange explains a situation where sudden economic growth turned a once quiet, tranquil town into a busy, construction-infested city, where mechanical cranes block the view of the scenery. She says, "Like so much of America, [in that town] there was just so much real estate development. And, literally everywhere that I looked, I saw a crane in the sky. You could not look down any street without seeing dozens and dozens of them, and it felt very heavy. They were an eyesore [...] and so disruptive to a place that I found peace in."

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