FANCY by Reba
INTRO 4 BARS
VERSE
Well, 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 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
PRECHORUS
Well, Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
Then she painted my eyes and lips (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
And standin’ back from the lookin’ glass there stood a woman
Where a half grown kid had stood
CHORUS
She said Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down.
Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down
VERSE
Mama 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
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 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 toe of my high heel shoe
PRECHORUS 2
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. “
CHORUS
She said Here’s your chance Fancy, don’t let me down
Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down
BRIDGE
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, you’re momma’s gonna move you uptown
VERSE
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
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
I’s gonna be a lady someday
Though I don’t know when or how
PRECHORUS 2
But I couldn’t see spending the rest of my life
With my head hung down in shame
You know, I mighta been born just plain white trash
But Fancy was my name
CHORUS
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
VERSE
It wasn’t long after a benevolent man
Took me in off the streets
And one week later I was pourin’ his tea
In a five room hotel suite (Yes she was)
I charmed a king, a congressman
And an occasional aristocrat
And then I got me a Georgia mansion
And an elegant New York townhouse flat
And I ain’t done bad (And she ain’t done bad)
INTRO REPEAT 4 BARS
PRECHORUS
Now in this world there’s a lot of self-righteous
Hypocrites that call me bad (bad)
And criticize Mama for turning me out
No matter how little we had
PRECHORUS 2
But though I ain’t had to worry ’bout nothin’
For nigh on fifteen years
Well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor
Mama’s voice ringin’ in my ears
CHORUS
Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down
Oh Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down
BRIDGE
Lord, forgive me for what I do
But if you want out
Well, it’s up to you
Now don’t let me down hon, your mama’s gonna move you uptown
Oh and I guess she did
OUTRO 8 BARS