My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist lyrics
Song information
Artist: The Decemberists Album: 5 Songs
Lyrics
My mother was a chinese trapeze artist In pre-war paris Smuggling bombs for the underground And she met my father At a fete in aix-en-provence He was disguised as a russian cadet In the employ of the axis And there in the half-light Of the provincial midnight To a lone concertina They drank in cantinas And toasted to edith piaf And the fall of the reich
My sister was born in a hovel in burgundy And left for the cattle But later was found by a communist Who'd deserted his ranks To follow his dream To start up a punk rock band in south carolina I get letters sometimes They bought a plantation She weeds the tobacco He offends the nation And they write, "don't be a stranger, y'hear." "Sincerely, your sister."
So my parents had me To the disgust of the prostitutes On a bed in a brothel Surprisingly raised with tender care 'Til the money got tight And they bet me away To a blind brigadier in a game Of high stakes canasta But he made me a sailor On his brigadier ship fleet I know every yardarm From main mast to jib sheet But sometimes I long to be landlocked And to work in a bakery
[from http://lyrics.doheth.co.uk]
"5 Songs" album track list
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