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 didnt 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 gown kid had stood
She said heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
And 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 pas run off and Im real sick
And the babys 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 theyll be nice to you
She said heres your chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Lord forgive me for what I do, but if you want out
Well its up to you
Now dont let me down you better start movin 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 aint been back
But the wheels of fate had started to turn
And for me there was no way out
And it wasnt very long til I knew exactly
What my mamas been talkin about
I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow
That is gonna be a lady someday
Though I dont know when or how
I couldnt 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
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
It wasnt very long after a benevolent man
Took me off 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
In an elegant new york townhouse flat
And I aint done bad
Now in this world theres 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 aint had to worry bout nothin
For nigh on fifteen years
I can still hear the desperation in my poor
Mamas voice ringin in my ear
She said, heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Heres your one chance fancy dont let me down
Lord, forgive me for what I do
But if you want out well its up to you
Now dont let me down
Your mamas gonna help you uptown
I guess she did
