Fancy Chords by Bobbie Gentry

[E] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
I remember it all very well, [D] looking back it was the summer I turned 18.
[A] We lived in a one room run down [C] shack on the outskirts of New Orleans.
[E] We didn't have money for food [D] or rent, to say the least we were [Dm] hard pressed.
[A] Then Mama spent every last penny we [C] had to buy me a dancing [Am] dress.
[E] Mama washed and combed and curled my [A] hair and she painted my [E] eyes and lips.
[A] And then [E] I stepped into a satin dancing dress, [A] it was split on [E] the side, cleaned up to my hips.
It was red with [A] velvet trim [E] and it fit me [A] good.
[E] And staring back from the looking glass was a woman [A] wearing a hat, a little [E] kid had stood.
_ [C] Here's your one [D] chance, Fancy, [E] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [A] don't [E] let me down.
_ [G] Lord forgive me for what [A] I do, [C] but if you want [D] out, well it's up to [C] you.
And if you really don't let me [Eb] down, then your mama's gonna have you [E] move uptown.
_ _ _ Mama [D] _
[E] dabbed a little bit of perfume [D] on my neck and she kissed my cheek.
[A] And I saw the tears well up in [C] her troubled eyes when she started to speak.
[E] She looked at her pitiful shack and then [D] she looked at me and took a ragged breath.
[A] Your paw's run off and I'm real [C] sick and the baby's gonna starve to death.
[E] She handed me a heart-shaped locker that [D] said, design on self be true.
[A] And she shivered as I watched a roach [C] crawl across the toe of my heel [G] shoe.
[E] It sounded like somebody else that was [Ab] talking, asking mama what [Dbm] do I do?
[A] Just be nice to the gentlemen, [B] Fancy, and they'll be nice [E] to you.
[Am] Here's your one [D] chance, Fancy, [E] don't let me down.
[G] _ _
Here's your one chance, [A] Fancy, [E] don't let me down. _
[G] Lord, forgive me for [A] what I do, [C] but if you want [D] out, well it's up to [C] you.
Now get on [B] out, girl, you better start [E] moving uptown. _ _
_ _ _ Well, that was the last time I saw my ma [D] that night, left that rickety shack.
[E] Cause of welfare people came and took the baby, [C] ma died and I ain't been back.
[E] But the wheels of fate had started to [D] turn and for me there was no way out.
[A] And it wasn't very long till I knew exactly [C] what my mama had been talking about.
[E] I did what I had to do, but I [D] made myself a solemn vow.
[A] That I was going to be a lady someday, [C] though I didn't know when or how.
[E] I couldn't see spending the rest of my life [Ab] with my head [Dbm] hung down in shame.
[A] I might have been born just plain white trash, [B] but Fancy was [E] my name.
[Am] Here's your one [D] chance, Fancy, don't let [E] me down.
[G] _ _ _ Here's your one [A] chance, Fancy, don't let [E] me down. _ _ _ _ _ _
It wasn't long after a benevolent man took me in off the street.
And one week later I was born as T in a five room boot camp suite.
I charmed a king, a congressman, and an occasional aristocrat.
And I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat.
And I ain't done that.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ Now in this world there's a lot of self rights [A] hypocrites [E] that would call me bad.
And criticize my mama for turning me out no matter how little we had.
And though I ain't had to worry about [Ab] nothing for now [Dbm] 15 years.
[A] I can still hear the desperation in my [B] poor mama's voice ringing [E] in my ear.
[Am] Here's your [D] one chance, Fancy, don't [Em] let me _ _ down.
Here's your one [A] chance, Fancy, don't [E] let me down.
_ _ [G] Lord, forgive me for what I [A] do.
[C] But if you want out, well [D] it's up to you.
Now [C] don't let me down.
Your [B] mama's gonna have [E] to move uptown. _ _ _ _
And I guess she did.
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _