Fancy Song Lyrics

I remember it all very well lookin' back
It was the summer 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
Then Momma spent every last penny we had
To buy me a dancin' dress

Momma washed and combed and curled my hair
And she painted my eyes and lips
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 starin' 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 (Please)
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"
(Don't let me down, don't let me down)

Momma dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
And she kissed my cheek
Then, I saw the tears well 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