Fancy

[E]/ [G]//[A]//[E]/ / ///// / ///// / //// /

I [E]remember it all very well lookin' back
It w[A]as the summer I turned eighteen
We [A]lived in a one room, rundown shack
O[C]n th[E]e outskirts of New Orleans
We [E]didn't have money for food or rent
To sa[A]y the least we were hard pressed
Then [A]Mama spent every last penny we had
To [C]buy me[E] a dancin' dress

M[E]ama washed and combed and curled my hair
a[A]nd[D] she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin
d[A]an[E]cin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip
[E]It w[A]as red velvet trim and it fit me good
St[D]andin' back from the lookin' glass
There[A] s[E]tood a woman where a half grown kid had stood

    [C] [A]    [E] run
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
  [G] [A]   [E] run
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down

Mama [E]dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
A[A]nd she kissed my cheek
T[A]he[C]n I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes
When [E]she started to speak
She [E]looked at a pitiful shack
And then[A] she looked at me and took a ragged breath
She sai[A]d your Pa's run off and I'm real sick
A[C]nd[E] the baby's gonna starve to death
She [E]handed me a heart shaped locket that said
"To [A]thine own self be true"
A[D]nd I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across
the [A]toe [E]of my high heeled shoe
It [E]sounded like somebody else that was talkin'
A[Ab]skin' Mam[C#]a what do I do
S[A]he said just be nice to the gentlemen Fancy
And [B]th[E]ey'll be nice to you

 [C] [A]    [E] run
She said, here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 [G] [A]   [E] run
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
L[G]or[A]d forgiv[C]e me for what I do, but if you want out
Well it's u[D]p to you
Now [C]do[B]n'[E]t let me down you better start movin' uptown

Well [E]that was the last time I saw my Ma
T[A]he night I left that rickety shack
T[A]he welfare people came and took the baby
Mama [C]died [E]and I ain't been back

But [E]the wheel of fate had started to turn
A[A]nd for me there was no way out
A[A]nd it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
W[C]hat my[E] Mama'd been talkin' about

I [E]knew [A]what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow
That I[D]'s gonna be a lady someday
T[A]hough I[E] didn't know when or how
I [E]couldn't see spending the rest of my life
W[Ab]ith m[C#]y head hung down in shame you know
I[A] might have been born just plain white trash
But F[B]ancy[E] was my name

 [C] [A]   [E] run
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 [G] [A]   [E] run
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down

 * Guitar in next verse is played almost as percussion
 * Fret-hand dampens strings, pick-hand keeps tempo
It wasn't long after a benevolent man

Took me off the street

And one week later I was pourin' his tea

In a five room hotel suite

I charmed a king, a congressman

And an occasional aristocrat

Then I got me a Georgia mansion

In an elegant New York townhouse flat
 * Guitar comes back in...
 [E]   repeat intro [E] [G] [A] [E]
And I ain't done bad

N[E]ow i[A]n this world there's a lot of self-righteous hippocrits

That would call me bad
And [D]criticize Mama for turning me out
No [A]ma[E]tter how little we had

B[E]ut though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
For [Ab]nigh on[C#] fifteen years
I can [A]still hear the desparation in my poor
M[B]ama's[E] voice ringin' in my ear

 [C] [A]     [E] run
She said, here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 [G] [A]   [E] run
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
L[G]or[A]d forgive me for what I do
B[C]ut if [D]you want out well it's up to you
Now d[C]on't let me down
Your [B]Mama'[E]s goina help you uptown

  E repeat intro/outro to end...
I guess she did

Comments:

Run
 -c
 -a -||-----0---- -a -||---2-0----
 -e -||-0-2---0-2 -e -||-------0-2
 -b -||---------- -b -||----------
 -F

Similar note runs occur throughout the song, so listen for them.
Or make up your own, like me (i.e., whenever I hit a wrong note --
which is pretty often).

What else... the song is performed with a lot of attitude, so the
strumming/pickin' tempo is reflective of that.