kathleen edwards, alicia ross
from: asking for flowers, 2008
“Oh, I am a girl with a forgettable face
And no matter my color, no matter my name
At work, there is a boy and he treats me well
My old friends from high school, I see them around
And August is here, I can’t believe how fast
Soon there will be winter and snow on the ground
Maybe by then, I could get my own place
Closer to the city if that’s okay
But mama, can you feel me?
As I dragged on my day’s last cigarette
He pulled me so hard
Off my very own backdoor steps
And he laid me in his garden
All the years I’ve watched him tend
And he took me, mama
So I could never tell you about it
And inside of this moment there are things that I wish I could know
Like your ring size and my ring size, the hour I was born
And my dad’s middle name and your favorite song
Was your darkest day as dark as this one?
Mama, can you feel me?
As I dragged on my day’s last cigarette
He pulled me so hard
Off my very own backdoor steps
And he laid me in his garden
All the years I’ve watched him tend
And then he took me, mama
So I could never tell you about it
Now I’m a girl whose face they’ll never forget
”
Alicia Ross (February 8, 1980 – August 17, 2005) was a young woman from Markham, Ontario, Canada whose disappearance in August 2005 and the resulting investigation became the subject of international media coverage. After the initial widespread suspicion of Ross' boyfriend, her next-door neighbor turned himself in to authorities and was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder. Wikipedia
“Alicia Ross” is based on a very tragic real life story that spawned this hauntingly, tender and sad song by Canadian Kathleen Edwards (born 1978).
-Alan West-
