Well, 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
My mama washed and combed
And then she painted my eyes and lips (lips)
Then I stepped into a satin dancin' dress
that had a split from the side
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
Standin' back from the lookin' glass
where a half grown kid had stood
And then I saw the tears wellin' up
She looked at our pitiful shack
And then she looked at me
She said, "Your pa's runned off
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 heel shoe
It sounded like somebody else it was talkin',
askin' "Mama, what do I do?"
Then she said "Here's your one chance,
Here's your one chance, Fancy,
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
It wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
What my mama been talkin' about
when 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
It wasn't long after a benevolent man
Took me in off the streets
One week later, I was pourin' his tea
In a five room hotel suite (yes she was)
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
there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites
And 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,
Oh, here's your one chance, Fancy,
Lord, forgive me for what I do
But if you want out, well, it's up to you
Now don't let me down, hon
Your mama's gonna move you uptown"
