A TRIBUTE TO FANCY (J-DOG)

This week a good friend of mine, also my co-worker, is leaving because her husband is getting a great job. She has been a great friend to me and I will miss her immensely. All the peace, joy, happiness, and fulfillment to you my friend. May our paths continue to cross as we take our seperate journeys through this life. Go ahead Fancy and remember that I will be "thinking of you."


I remember it all very well lookin' backIt 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 upto 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 grown 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 dabbled 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 accrossThe toe of my high heeled shoe
It sounded like somebody else that was talkin'Askin' Mama what do I do
She said be nice to the gentlemen Fancy
And 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 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 MaThe 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 exactlyWhat my Mama'd 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 didn't know when or how
I couldn't see spending the rest of my life With my head hung down in shame
you knowI 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 long after that benevolent man Took me off the street
And one week later I was pourin' his teaIn a five room hotel suite
I charmed a king, 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 hippocratesThat 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 poorMama'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 downYou Mama's gonna help you uptown
I guess she did

Peace Out!!!