I remember it all very well, lookin' 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 dancin' dress
Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
And then she painted my eyes and lips, then I stepped into a satin
Dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
Standin' back from the lookin' glass
There stood a woman where a half gown kid had stood
She said, "here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down
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 wellin' 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 runned 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 heel shoe
It sounded like somebody else, it was talkin'
Askin', "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 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
And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
What my mama'd been talkin' about
I knew what I had to do and I made myself this solemn vow
That I's gonna be a lady someday
Though I don'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 have 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 pourin' his tea
In a five room hotel suite
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'd call me bad
And criticize mama for turning me out
No matter how little we had
But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
For nigh on fifteen years
Well, I can still hear the desperation
In my poor mama's voice ringin' 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
Your mama's gonna move you uptown
And I guess she did
