Tony Brown - Fancy lyrics

[Verse 1] I remember it all very well looking 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 dancing dress Mama washed and combed and curled my hair And she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into A satin dancing dress that had a split on the side clean up To my hip It was red velvet trim and it fit me good Standing back from the looking gla** There stood a woman where a half grown kid Had stood [Chorus 1] 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 2] Mama dabbled a little bit of perfume on my neck And she kissed my cheek Then I saw the tears welling 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 going to starve to d**h 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 talking Asking mama what do I do She said be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy And they'll be nice to you [Chorus 1] [Chorus 2] 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 [Verse 3] 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 haven'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 until I knew exactly What my Mama had been talking about I knew what I had to do but I made myself this Solemn vow that I was going to be a lady someday Though I didn't know when or how But I couldn't see spending the rest of my life With my head hung down in shame, you know You know I might have been born just plain white trash But Fancy was my name [Chorus 1] [Verse 4] It wasn't long after that benevolent man Took me in off the streets And one week later I was pouring his tea In a five room hotel suite I charmed a king, congressman And an occasional aristocrat Then I got me a Georgia mansion And an elegant New York townhouse flat And I haven't done bad Now in this world there's 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 haven't had to worry about nothing For now or fifteen years I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringing in my ear [Chorus 1] [Chorus 2] [Outro] I guess she did