Fancy (the Voice Performance) Lyrics - Ashley Levin

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 grown 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 dabbled a little bit of perfume on my neck and then she kissed my cheek 

And then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes as 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 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, 

And they'll be nice to you." 

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 

Now your mama's gonna move you 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'd been talkin' about 

I knew what I had to do and I made myself this solemn vow 

That I's gonna 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 I might have been born just plain white trash 

But Fancy was my name 

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. 

It wasn't long after that 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 

And then I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat 

And I ain't done bad 

Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites 

That would call me bad 

They 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 

Well, 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 

Now your Mama's gonna move you uptown 

Well, I guess she did