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I remember it all very well lookin' back |
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It was the summer I turned eighteen |
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We lived in a one room, rundown shack |
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On the outskirts of New Orleans |
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We didn't have money for food or rent |
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To say the least we were hard pressed |
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Then Mama spent every last penny we had |
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To buy me a dancin' dress |
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Mama washed and combed and curled my hair |
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And she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin |
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Dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip |
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It was red velvet trim and it fit me good |
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Standin' back from the lookin' glass |
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There stood a woman where a half gown kid had stood |
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She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck |
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And she kissed my cheek |
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Then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes |
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When she started to speak |
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She looked at a pitiful shack |
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And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath |
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She said your Pa's run off and I'm real sick |
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And the baby's gonna starve to death |
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She handed me a heart shaped locket that said |
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"To thine own self be true" |
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And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across |
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The toe of my high heel shoe |
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It sounded like somebody else that was talkin' |
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Askin' Mama what do I do |
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She said just be nice to the gentlemen Fancy |
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And they'll be nice to you |
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She said here's your chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Lord forgive me for what I do, but if you want out |
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Well it's up to you |
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Now don't let me down you better start movin' uptown |
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Well, that was the last time I saw my Ma |
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The night I left that rickety shack |
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The welfare people came and took the baby |
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Mama died and I ain't been back |
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But the wheels of fate had started to turn |
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And for me there was no way out |
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And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly |
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What my Mama's been talkin' about |
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I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow |
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That I's gonna be a lady someday |
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Though I don't know when or how |
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I couldn't see spending the rest of my life |
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With my head hung down in shame you know |
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I might have been born just plain white trash |
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But Fancy was my name |
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Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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It wasn't very long after a benevolent man |
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Took me off the street |
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And one week later I was pourin' his tea |
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In a five room hotel suite |
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I charmed a king, a congressman |
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And an occasional aristocrat |
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Then I got me a Georgia mansion |
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In an elegant New York townhouse flat |
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And I ain't done bad |
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Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrite |
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That would call me bad |
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And criticize Mama for turning me out |
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No matter how little we had |
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But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin' |
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For nigh on fifteen years |
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I can still hear the desperation in my poor |
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Mama's voice ringin' in my ear |
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She said, here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down |
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Lord, forgive me for what I do |
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But if you want out well it's up to you |
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Now don't let me down |
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Your Mama's gonna help you uptown |
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I guess she did |