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The Decemberists
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My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist
Lyricist:Colin Meloy
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 Find more lyrics at ※ Mojim.com 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
Till 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
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