This is one of my favourite Decemberists songs and I was disappointed that there wasn't
tab yet, so I listened to it about 10 times and figured out the chords. There are some
and things that I didn't have the time to figure out but here are the basics of the song:
Intro:
Am Am/E Am Am/E (x4)
Am Am/E C D G
My mother was a chinese trapeze artist
Em D
In pre-war Paris
Am D B Em Emadd9 Em
Smuggling bombs for the underground.
Am D
And she met my father
B C
At a fete in Aix-en-Provence.
Cadd9 D
He was disguised as a Russian cadet
Em Emadd9 Em
in the employ of the Axis.
C
And there in the half-light
C
Of the provincial midnight
G
To a lone concertina
G
They drank in cantinas
C D
And toasted to Edith Piaf
Em Emadd9 Em
And the fall of the Reich.
C D Am
Am Am/E C D G
My sister was born in a hovel in Burgundy
Em D
And left for the cattle
Am D B Em Emadd9 Em
But later was found by a communist
Am D
Who'd deserted his ranks
B C
To follow his dream
Cadd9 D Em Emadd9 Em
To start up a punk rock band in South Carolina.
C
I get letters sometimes.
C
They bought a plantation
G
She weeds the tobacco
G
He offends the nation
C D
And they write, "Don't be a stranger, y'hear."
Em Emadd9 Em
"Sincerely, your sister."
C D Am
Am Am/E
So my parents had me
C D G
To the disgust of the prostitutes
Em D
On a bed in a brothel.
Am D B Em Emadd9 Em
Surprisingly raised with tender care
Am D
'Til the money got tight
B C
And they bet me away
Cadd9 D
To a blind brigadier in a game
Em Emadd9 Em
Of high stakes canasta.
C
But he made me a sailor
C
On his brigadier ship fleet.
G
I know every yardarm
G
From main mast to jib sheet.
C D
But sometimes I long to be landlocked
C
And to work in a bakery.
Em C Em
Ahhhhh Ahhhhh Ahhhhh
C D Am
Listen to the recording for the rhythms. I love this song. Hope you do too.
