My Grandma Alice Henry Fliss was a terror of the plains no doubt about it
A bandit, thief and harlot she was, committing crimes not requiring gloves
Driving along the northeastern highways with her rough and rowdy no good gang
They would rob gas stations and grocers in the night, For the Great Depression they was doin' it right
Tiny standing 5 feet tall, she’d crawl in a hole in the back wall
Creep right in and up to the til, and take all the cash at her own free will
Crawl right out back the way she came, split up the cash, drive off and do it again
Where their tears fell grew a Cherokee Rose, Rebels of the northeastern plains
Well sure they came from a rough childhood, don’t we all, don't we all?
Soon as she could bust outta home she did, hit the road at 16, she was just a kid
And fell in with that crowd of rebels, I reckon she thought she was destined for the devil
Then one night robbin' the roadhouse grocer, Alice was caught by a scornful onlooker
The grocers’ son had caught her red handed, they fell right in love, and went n’ got married!
Stanislav Mikhail Fliss was my grandpa and an alcoholic,
Born in Poland, raised in the Ukraine, war in those days kept the family moving
With Aunt Josephine at his side he came to the United States when he was just a little boy of 5
Great Grandpa Tommy was waiting there with his big tool shop and his big boss flair
Then another war came, and they had to shut down, so they bought a grocery store on the outskirts of town, and there’s where Stanley met sweet Alice, and they built a big ol' shackin’ palace, wild horses running through the plains, fields and fields of American grain
Where she died grew a Cherokee Rose, child of the American dust
Sure she came from a rough childhood, don’t we all, don't we all?
Singer/Songwriter Whiskey Bliss
(www.misswhiskeybliss.com)
brings every fiber of her being to each of her songs, reflecting her lifelong dedicated search of truth, beauty, freedom, and love through the medium of music.
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