I remember it all very well, lookin' back It was the summer I turned eighteen We lived in a one-room, worn out shack On the outskirts of New Orleans We didn't have money for food or rent To say the least, we was 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 Stepped into a satin dancin' dress That had a slit in the side clean up to my hips It was red velvet trim, and it fit me good Starin' back from the lookin' glass There stood a woman where a half-gown boy had stood "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 And she kissed my cheek I could see 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 heeled shoe It sounded like somebody else that was talkin' Askin', "Mama, what do I do?" She said, "Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy They'll be nice to you" "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" 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 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 Said I was gonna be a lady someday Though it didn't matter when or how I couldn't see spending the rest of my life With my head held down in shame You know I might have 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" It wasn't long after a benevolent man Took me in 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 the occasional aristocrat I got me a Georgia mansion And an elegant New York townhouse flat And I ain't done bad Now in this life, there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites That call me bad And criticize mama for turning me out No matter how little we had And though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin' For now 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 move you uptown" (Fancy)