My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist Lyrics - 5 Songs - Decemberists

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 had deserted his ranks to follow his dream 

To start up a punk rock band in South Carolina 

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And 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 

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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