Well I remember it all very well, looking 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 Mama spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancing dress Well Mama washed and combed and curled my hair, then she painted my eyes in lilac Then I stepped into a satin dancing dress, the hat I split from the side, cleaned up to my heel It was red velvet trimming and it fit me good And standing back from the looking-glass, there stood a woman wore a half-grown kid, it stood She said, here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down She said, here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down Mama died a little bit of perfume on my neck, then she kissed my cheek And then I saw the tears welling up in her troubled eyes as she started to speak She looked at our pitiful shack and then she looked at me and took a ragged breath She said, your paw's runned off and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve to death She handed me a heart-shaped lock, if you said to thine own self, be true And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across the toe of my shoe It sounded like somebody else was talking, asking Mama, what do I do She said, just be nice to the gentleman fancy, they'll be nice to you She said, 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, but if you won't have it, 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 mama, and 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 started to turn and for me, there was no way out It wasn't very long till I knew exactly what my mama been talking about I knew what I had to do and I made myself this song about I was 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 just plain white trash, but fancy was my name She said, here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down She said, here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down Well, long after up in Everlet, man took me in off the streets One week later, I was born as tea in a five-room hotel suite I charmed a king, a congressman, and an occasional aristocrat And then I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse Well, now, ain't that mad? Now, in this world, there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites that call me bad And criticize mama for turning me out, no matter how little we had But though I ain't had to worry about nothing from now on fifteen years Well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor mama's voice ringing in my ears Here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down Oh, here's your one-chance fancy, don't let me down Lord, forgive me for what I do, but if you won't have it, it's up to you Now, don't let me down, honey, mama's gonna move you uptown Oh, and I guess she did I guess she did I guess she did