Fancy Lyrics - Singles - Bobbie Gentry

I remember it all very well lookin' back 

It was the summer that I turned eighteen 

We lived in a one-room, run down shack 

On the outskirts of New Orleans 

We didn't have money for food or rent 

To say the least we were hard-pressed 

When momma spent every last penny we had 

To buy me a dancin' dress 

Momma washed and combed and curled my hair 

Then she painted my eyes and lips 

And then I stepped into the satin dancin' dress 

It was split in the side, clean up to my hips 

It was red, velvet-trimmed and it fit me good 

And standin' back from the lookin' glass 

Was a woman 

Where a half grown kid had stood 

"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 momma's gonna help you move uptown" 

Momma 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 when she started to speak 

She looked at our pitiful shack and then 

She looked at me and took a ragged breath 

" 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-healed shoe 

It sounded like somebody else it was talkin' 

Askin', "Momma what do I do?" 

"Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy, and 

they'll be nice to you" 

"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 get on now, girl, you better start movin' uptown" 

Well that was the last time I saw my momma 

Then I left that rickety shack 

Cause the welfare people came and took the baby 

Momma 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 after that I knew exactly 

What my momma been talkin' about 

I knew what I had to do 

But I made myself a solemn vow 

But I was gonna to be a lady someday 

Though I didn't know when or how 

I couldn't see spendin' the rest of my life 

With my head hung down in shame 

I mighta 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 that a benevolent man 

Took me in off the streets 

One week later I was pourin' his tea 

In a five roomed hotel suite 

I've charmed a king, a congressman 

And an occasional aristocrat 

And it 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 ma momma for turning me out 

No matter how little we had 

And though I haven't had to worry 'bout nothin' 

Now for nigh on fifteen years 

But I can still hear the desperation 

In my poor mommas 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 momma's gonna help you move uptown" 

And I guess she did