Tarkio - My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist

Some reason, this is the song of the moment. I prefer the more polished Decemberist version, more mellow, less electric guitar action.

It's all about the story.

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.

It's a great story isn't it? The bit i love the most is the part the bit about the communist who raised his sister and how he left cos he wanted to start a punk rock band in South Carolina. It's very sad, the fact that she was abandoned for cattle, but then, it reminded me of the stories i'd here about the old times where people just couldn't afford to raise kids. They had to give them to wealthier neighbours, families or friends so they could have a decent life- love was letting go, perhaps not in a field of cattle to be raised growing tobacco with a punk rock communist but knowing when all you can do is just not enough.

Still, betting a kid on a game on high stake canasta is something i wouldn't do. The saddest bit of the song has gotta be the last two lines- don't we all wish for a simpler, radically different life? Hmmm......i complain it's so hard, but i want it life to be different, challenging, adventurous so i have stories to tell them at bedtime.

Im off to Bedfordshire now. Lotsa work and Kendo for tomorrow. You'all stay in touch now, i really miss you guys you know. Wish me luck and proxy-hug someone. I'll feel the love-vibes even if im hiding in our holy library. Or beating someone with a stick, with a grill covering my face (kendo armour)

bisous