Fancy lyrics

Artist: Reba Mcentire
Album: Rumor Has It
Title: Fancy

(bobbie gentry)

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

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 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
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 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 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 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`s 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 don`t know when or how
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

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 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 ain`t done bad

Now in this world there`s a lot of self-righteous hippocrits
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 ear

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 help you uptown

I guess she did
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