Well, I remember it all very well lookin’ back It was the summer that I turned eighteen We lived in a one-room, run down shack On the outskirts of New Orleans
We didn’t have money for food or rent To say the least we were hard-pressed When Momma spent every last penny we had To buy me a dancin’ dress
Well, Momma washed and combed and curled my hair Then she painted my eyes and lips Then I stepped into the satin dancin’ dress It was split in the side clean up to my hips
It was red, velvet-trimmed, and it fit me good And starin’ back from the lookin’ glass Was a woman Where a half grown 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 Lord forgive me for what I do But if you want out girl it’s up to you Now get on out, you better start sleepin’ uptown”
Momma dabbed a little bit of perfume On my neck and she kissed my cheek Then I saw the tears welling up In her troubled eyes when she started to speak
She looked at our pitiful shack and then She looked at me and took a ragged breath “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-healed shoe
It sounded like somebody else was talkin’ Askin’, “Momma 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 get on out, girl, you better start movin’ uptown”
Well, that was the last time I saw my momma When I left that rickety shack ‘Cause the welfare people came and took the baby Momma died and I ain’t been back
But the wheels of fate had started to turn And for me there was no other way out It wasn’t very long till I knew exactly What my momma was talkin’ ’bout
I knew what I had to do But I made myself this solemn vow That I was gonna to be a lady someday Though I didn’t know when or how
I couldn’t see spendin’ the rest of my life With my head hung down in shame I mighta been born just plain white trash But Fancy was my name
“Here’s your one chance, Fancy, don’t let me down Here’s your one chance, Fancy, don’t let me down
Wasn’t long after that a benevolent man Took me in off the streets One week later I was pourin’ his tea In a five roomed penthouse suite
Since then I’ve charmed a king, a congressman And an occasional aristocrat And I got me a Georgia mansion And an elegant New York townhouse flat
Now I ain’t done bad
Now in this world there’s a lot of self-righteous Hypocrites that would call me bad They criticize Momma for turning me out No matter how little we had
And though I haven’t had to worry ’bout nothin’ Now for nigh on fifteen years I can still hear the desperation In my poor mommas voice ringin’ in my ears
“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 get on out, you better move uptown And I guess she did”