Bobbie Gentry - Fancy Lyrics
Well, I remember it all very well lookin' backIt was the summer that I turned eighteen.We lived in a one-room, run down shackon the outskirts of New Orleans.We didn't have money for food or rentto say the least we were hard-pressedwhen Momma spent every last penny we hadto 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 goodand starin' back from the lookin' glasswas a womanwhere 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 perfumeon my neck and she kissed my cheekThen I saw the tears welling upin her troubled eyes when she started to speakShe looked at our pitiful shack and thenshe looked at me and took a ragged breath"Your Pa's runned off, and I'm real sickand 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 acrossthe toe of my high-healed shoeIt 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 youNow get on out, girl, you better start movin' uptown."Well, that was the last time I saw my mommawhen 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 turnand for me there was no other way out.It wasn't very long 'till I knew exactlywhat 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 somedaythough I didn't know when or how.I couldn't see spendin' the rest of my lifewith my head hung down in shame.I mighta been born just plain white trashbut 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 mantook me in off the streetsOne week later I was pourin' his teain a five roomed penthouse suite.Since then I've charmed a king, a congressmanand an occasional aristocratand I got me a Georgia mansionand an elegant New York townhouse flat.Now I ain't done badNow in this world there's a lot of self-righteoushypocrites that would call me bad.They criticize Momma for turning me outNo matter how little we had.And though I haven't had to worry 'bout nothin'now for nigh on fifteen yearsI can still hear the desperationin 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"
