Intro F# A B F# F# I remember it all very well lookin' back E It was the summer I turned eighteen B We lived in a one room, rundown shack D On the outskirts of New Orleans F# We didn't have money for food or rent E To say the least we were hard pressed B Then Mama spent every last penny we had D To buy me a dancin' dress F# Mama washed and combed and curled my hair B F# and she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin B F# dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip F# B F# It was red velvet trim and it fit me good F# Standin' back from the lookin' glass B F# There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood D E F# She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down A B F# Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down F# E Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck And she kissed my cheek B/D# D Then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes When she started to speak F# She looked at a pitiful shack E And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath B/D# She said your Pa's run off and I'm real sick D And the baby's gonna starve to death F# She handed me a heart shaped locket that said E "To thine own self be true" B/D# And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across D the toe of my high heeled shoe F# It sounded like somebody else that was talkin' A# D#M Askin' Mama what do I do B She said just be nice to the gentlemen Fancy C# And they'll be nice to you D E F# She said, here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down A B F# Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down A B D Lord forgive me for what I do, but if you want out E Well it's up to you D C# F# Now don't let me down now your Mama's gonna move you uptown F# Well that was the last time I saw my Mama E The night I left that rickety shack B/D# The welfare people came and took the baby D Mama died and I ain't been back F# But the wheel of fate had started to turn E And for me there was no way out B/D# And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly D What my Mama'd been talkin' about F# E I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow B/D# That I's gonna be a lady someday D Though I didn't know when or how F# I couldn't see spending the rest of my life A# D#m With my head hung down in shame you know B I might have been born just plain white trash C# But Fancy was my name