Fancy

Well, I remember it all very well, looking back

It was the summer I turned eighteen

We lived in a one room, rundown shack

On the outskirts of New Orleans

We didn't have money for food or rent

To say the least, we were hard-pressed

Then mama spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancing dress

Well, mama washed and combed and curled my hair

And then she painted my eyes and lips

Then I stepped into a satin dancing dress

That had a split on the side, clean up to my hip

It was red velvet trimming and it fit me good

Standing back from the looking glass

There stood a woman where a half-grown kid had stood

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck, then she kissed my cheek

And then, I saw the tears welling up in her troubled eyes as she started to speak

She looked at our pitiful shack and then, she looked at me and took a ragged breath

She said, "Your Pa's run off and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve to death"

She handed me a heart-shaped locket that said, "To thine own self be true"

And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across the toe of my high-heeled shoe

It sounded like somebody else that was talking, asking mama, "What do I do?"

She said, "Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy, they'll be nice to you"

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

"Here's your one chance Fancy, don't let me down"

Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you want out, well, it's up to you

Now don't let me down, now

Your mama's gonna move you uptown

Well, that was the last time I saw my Ma

The night I left that rickety shack

The welfare people came and took the baby

Mama died and I ain't been back

But the wheels of fate had started to turn and for me, there was no way out

It wasn't very long until I knew exactly what my Mama'd been talking about

I knew what I had to do and I made myself this solemn vow

That I was going to be a lady someday, though I didn't know when or how

But I couldn't see spending the rest of my life with my head hung down in shame

You know I might've been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

It wasn't long after a benevolent man took me in off the streets

And one week later, I was pouring his tea in a five room hotel suite (Yes, she was)

I charmed a king, a congressman and an occasional aristocrat

And then, I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat

And I ain't done bad (She ain't done bad)

Now, in this world, there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites that call me bad

And criticize Mama for turning me out no matter how little we had

But though I ain't had to worry about nothing for nigh on fifteen years

Well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringing in my ears

"Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

"Oh, here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you want out, well, it's up to you

Now don't let me down, honey, your Mama's gonna move you uptown

Oh, and I guess she did