I remember it all
very well lookin` back
It was the summer

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
Then Mama spent every
last penny we had
To buy me a dancin` dress

Mama washed and combed
and curled my hair
And 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 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
And then she kissed my cheek
Then I saw the tears wellin`
up in her troubled eyes

When she started to speak
She looked at a 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 tow of my high heel shoe
It sounded like somebody
else that was talkin`

Askin` Mama what do I do
She said just be nice
to the gentlemen Fancy
And 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

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
but I made myself

this solemn vow
That I`s gonna be
a lady someday
Though I didn`t

know when or how
Well 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 of the street

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
Then I got me

a Georgia mansion
and an elegant New York
town house flat
And I ain`t done bad

In this world there`s a lot
of self-righteous hypocrites
That would 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
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
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
help you uptown
Well I guess she did