Album: Rumor Has It (1990)

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• I remember it all very well lookin' back
  It was the summer I turned eighteen
  We lived in a one room, rundown 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 dancin' dress
  
  Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
  And she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin
  Dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip
  It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
  Standin' back from the lookin' glass
  There stood a woman where a half gown kid had stood
  
  She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
  Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
  
  Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
  And she kissed my cheek
  Then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes
  When she started to speak
  She looked at a pitiful shack
  And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath
  She said your Pa's run off and I'm real sick
  And the baby's gonna starve to death
  
  She handed me a heart shaped locket that said
  "To thine own self be true"
  And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across
  The toe of my high heel shoe
  It sounded like somebody else that was talkin'
  Askin' Mama what do I do
  She said just be nice to the gentlemen Fancy
  And they'll be nice to you
  
  She said here's your 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 want out
  Well it's up to you
  Now don't let me down you better start movin' uptown
  
  Well, that was the last time I saw my Ma
  The night 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 had started to turn
  And for me there was no way out
  And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
  What my Mama's been talkin' about
  
  I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow
  That I's gonna be a lady someday
  Though I don't know when or how
  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
  
  Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
  Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
  
  It wasn't very 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
  And I ain't done bad
  
  Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrite
  That would call me bad
  And criticize Mama for turning me out
  No matter how little we had
  
  But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
  For nigh on fifteen years
  I can still hear the desperation in my poor
  Mama's voice ringin' in my ear
  
  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 want out well it's up to you
  Now don't let me down
  Your Mama's gonna help you uptown
  
  I guess she did Writer/s: Bobbie Gentry
  Publisher: Spirit Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

• Alyssa Ferrera from Louisiana Just watched the video for the first time in a long time. When she visits the graveyard there are two graves, the mama and someone else. The dad had run off, so it’s not him. The welfare people had taken the baby, so it’s not the baby. Who is it??
• William Lee from DixieIs that a 53 ford in the video?
• Brenda L Johnson from Shorewood, IlReba McEntire performs "Fancy" superbly!! Listening to Reba sing it never gets old!!
• Camille from Toronto, OhIn the telling of this fictional autobiography, incredibly rhythmic lyrics are chosen and placed like strands of silk, woven together to create the finest pictorial tapestry. The sung words sound exactly as though a real life Fancy was reminiscing right beside you. The subject matter could be discussed and dissected endlessly; much is divulged in a few short minutes in the telling of this tale. The songwriter, Bobby Jo Gentry, crafted a compelling story so rich in description and perfect in delivery we are immediately transported to the run down, rickety shack outside of New Orleans. Fancy's mother is desperate to propel her daughter out of a life of abject poverty, but at what cost? Are the mother's actions justified? Exactly what is the mother's background? Does her mother truly see her daughter's potential, or is it merely desperate thinking? Fancy is excited to see the red satin dress in all its finery--something so colorful, luxurious and frivolous would be a striking contrast to her dreary surroundings. She witnesses her own striking transformation as she struggles to comprehend the ramifications of her mother's instructions on how to break free from the oppression she's lived in. The listener wants Fancy to rise above her circumstances and is glad to find out that she does, but it means being glad that she found success as a prostitute or kept woman. A part of us wants to believe that being in the presence of powerful men and amassing personal wealth via this profession is better than living in poverty and is a happy existence, even if it meant selling her body. Is that something to be happy about? There is room for discussion because as iconic as the song is, most young women who turn to this lifestyle have no power and live a miserable, bleak existence. The listener struggles with these issues. Fancy sums her success up with the words: "And I ain't done bad." Does that mean she has done well for herself? Or does it mean that she sees nothing morally wrong with the way she survived and thrived? In the end, Fancy's driving force remains the memory of desperation in her mama's voice telling her she's got one chance to make it out of hell.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn November 16th 1969, the original version of "Fancy" by Bobbi Gentry entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #94; and on February 1st, 1970 it peaked at #31 {for 2 weeks} and spent 14 weeks on the Top 100...
  And on February 8th, 1970 it reached #1 {for 2 weeks} on the Canadian RPM Top Country Singles chart...
  Between 1967 and 1976 she entered the Top 100 eleven* different times; three of those times with the same song, "Ode to Billie Joe", it reached #1 {for 4 weeks} in 1967, re-entered the chart in 1976 & peaked at #54, then she re-recorded it for the Warner Bros. movie of the same name, and that version reached #65...
  * Also three of those eleven entries were duets with Glen Campbell; "Mornin' Glory" {#74 in 1968}, "Let It Be Me" {#36 in 1969}, and "All I Have to Do Is Dream" {#27 in 1970}...
  Ms. Gentry, born Roberta Lee Streeter, will celebrated her 71st birthday come next July 27th {2015} and may God bless and watch over Mr. Campbell.
• Betty from Dayton, OhI sung this song for karaoke back in 94' when karaoke was not big like it is now....i still love it to this day!
• Daniel from Toledo, OhThis song was a big hit for Bobbie Gentry in 1969-1970. Despite being banned on many radio station, it had a four month run on the Billboard hot 100 pop singles chart going #31 pop for two weeks. It also went #26 country and #8 adult contemporary. It earned Bobbie both an acm and grammy nomination for top female vocal of 1970. In Canada, the song went #1 country and #26 pop for Bobbie.
• Brit from Nashville, TnThis song never became a #1 hit for Ms. McEntire. Although, she still considers it her "career" song.

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