Fancy

INTRO: Em7 E D

#1.
        E
Well, I remember it all very well lookin' back..
           D
it was the summer that I turned eighteen.
   A
We lived in a one-room, run down shack on the
C
outskirts of New Orleans.
   E
We didn't have money for food or rent..to say
    D
the least we was hard-pressed..
     A                                      C
when momma spent every last penny we had to buy

me a dancin' dress.

#2.
      E
Momma washed and combed and curled my hair..
         A                   G
then she painted my eyes and lips.
       E
Then I stepped into the satin dancin' dress..it had
  A                        E
a split in the side, clean up to my hip.
E                  A                     G
It was red, velvet-trimmed and it fit me good.
    E
And standin' back from the lookin' glass was a woman
        A                   E
where a half-growed kid had stood.

CHORUS:
Am                      D                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
G                       A                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
         G                  A          Am7
Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you want out,
           D
well, it's up to you.
     C                       B                        E
Now, don't let me down, your momma's gonna you move uptown.

#3.
E
Momma dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck and she
D
kissed my cheek.
       A
Then I saw the tears welling up in her troubled eyes as
C
she started to speak.
    E
She looked at our pitiful shack and then she looked at me
           D                             A
and took a ragged breath..she said, your Pa's runned off
                          C
and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve to death.

#4.
    E                                             D
She handed me a heart-shaped locket that said, to thine own

self be true.
      A                                              C
And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across the toe of

my high-heeled shoe.
   E                                              Ab
It sounded like somebody else was talkin' askin', Momma what
     Dbm
do I do?
          A                                     B
She said, just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy, they'll be nice
   E
to you.


CHORUS:
Am                      D                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
G                       A                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
         G                  A          Am7
Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you want out,
           D
well, it's up to you.
C                      B                E
Get up, now, girl, you best be movin' uptown.

#5.
E                                                   D
Well, that was the last time I saw my momma, when I left that rickety

shack.
    A                                            C
The welfare people came and took the baby, momma died and I ain't

been back.
        E                                          D
But the wheels of fate had started to turn and for me there was

no other way out.
   A                                                   C
It wasn't very long after, that I knew exactly what my momma was

talkin' 'bout.

#6.
  E                                   D
I knew what I had to do, but I made myself this solemn vow..
     A                                          C
that I was gonna to be a lady someday, though I didn't know when or how.
      E                                                 Ab
But I couldn't see spendin' the rest of my life with my head hung
        Dbm
down in shame.
  A                                           B            E
I mighta been born just plain white trash but Fancy was my name.

CHORUS:
Am                      D                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
G                       A                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.

#7.
   E
It wasn't long after that a benevolent man took me in off the streets.
D                                         B                     C
One week later I was pourin' his tea in a five roomed penthouse suite.
     Dbm               Em
I've charmed a king, a congressman and an occasional aristocrat.
      D                              E
And I got me a Georgia mansion and a New York townhouse flat..
                      G A E
now, I ain't done bad.

#8.
E                                                  A
Now, in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites who call
   E
me bad.
E                                           A                    E
They criticize momma for turning me out, no matter how little we had.
E                                                 Ab              Dbm
But I haven't had to worry 'bout nothin', now for nigh on fifteen years.
          A                                             B
But I can still hear the desperation in my poor momma's voice ringin' in
   E
my ears.

CHORUS:
Am                      D                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
G                       A                   Em
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
         G                  A          Am7
Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you want out,
           D
well, it's up to you.
     C                       B                             E
Now, don't let me down, your momma's gonna help you move uptown.