Written by Ray Davies/Bobbie Gentry
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. (And I guess she did.) OUTRO: E G A E..E G A E..(Fade.) A seventies smash from Kraziekhat.
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