Shanghai Summers

[Verse 1]
Momma grew up by the fields in the countryside by the river
Shanghai summers, cicadas buzzin' til winter
Couldn't afford meat, rice and vegetables for dinner
I close my eyes and sometimes I feel like I could remember
The fire inside burns bright, started as a ember
She used to catch beetles, put strings around their antennas
'Member childhood days 'fore anyone had agendas
Who could tell most us grow up to be somе sinners/
The farms turned to high risеs
Our memories only exist inside our head now
They weighin' on her mind she keeps her head down
She splashes in the puddles on the road just before sundown
While grandma makin' silk from the worms and it breaks her thumbs down
Way before the one child
Just one room with her brother
Their mom and dad ain't love each other but they stayed together happily
That's life, huh?
They were way stronger than I, huh
So look me in the eyes like what you know bout sacrifice, huh?
So look me in the eyes like what you know bout sacrifice
So look me in the eyes

[Verse 2]
So let me tell bout that same old story bout a dollar and a dream
When she left her family to find some opportunity
Cuz though she finished her degree she always felt like something more
The grass is always greener even if it turn out worse
So she, packed her bags
And she, hopped on a jet
And she, came to a land
Where she, tried to forget
Bout the, friends she had
And the, lovers she missed
For the chance at something new she traded way her happiness
Every night she studied English, in the day turned to a waitress
When she had me in her 20s that was really somethin' major
And in the dark she missed her mom wish she could talk wish she could call
Cuz in this land away from home it was only strangers, so alone
Her husband's family just never really saw her as their own
And at home, no one she could conversate with at her lows
So they split paths, for family reasons or so I was told
Workin' 3 jobs, midnight shift at a early age gettin' old
Bags under her eyes to get a bag to keep the lights on
Momma this your fight song, hustle every night song
Fingers to the bone just to provide now ain't that right ma?
Don't wanna just survive we workin' hard so we can thrive
So what you know bout sacrifice, huh?
So what you know bout sacrifice, huh?