Fancy Chords

CAPO at II
 
[Intro]
E G A E
/ ///// / ///// / ///// / //// /
 
[Verse 1]
  E
I remember it all very well lookin' back
    D
It was the summer I turned eighteen
   A
We lived in a one room, rundown shack
 C   E
On the outskirts of New Orleans
   E
We didn't have money for food or rent
     D
To say the least we were hard pressed
     A
Then Mama spent every last penny we had
   C                        E
To buy me a dancin' dress
 
 E
Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
 A                           E
and she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into a satin
E                          A                     E
dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip
E                  A                  E
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
  E
Standin' back from the lookin' glass
                            A                  E
There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood
 
[Chorus 1]
         C                      D               E run#1
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 G                     A                  E run#2  E
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 
[Verse 2]
     E
Mama dabbed a little bit of perfume on my neck
 D
And she kissed my cheek
 A                                              C
Then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes
   C
As she started to speak
    E
She looked at a pitiful shack
                       D
And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath
       A
She said your Pa's run off and I'm real sick
 C
And the baby's gonna starve to death
    E
She handed me a heart shaped locket that said
    D
"To thine own self be true"
 A
And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across
    C
the toe of my high heeled shoe
   E
It sounded like somebody else that was talkin'
 G#       C#m
Askin' Mama what do I do
 A
She said just be nice to the gentlemen Fancy
    B
And they'll be nice to you
 
[Chorus 1]
         C                      D               E run#1
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 G                     A                  E run#2  E
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 
[Chorus 2]
    G                      A          C
Lord forgive me for what I do, but if you want out
           D
Well it's up to you
          C                 B                        E
Now don't let me down your mama's gonna move you uptown
 
[Verse 3]
     E
Well that was the last time I saw my Mama
 D
The night I left that rickety shack
 A
The welfare people came and took the baby
      C
Mama died and I ain't been back
 
    E
But the wheel of fate had started to turn
 D
And for me there was no way out
 A
And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
 C
What my Mama'd been talkin' about
 
  E                                 D
I knew what I had to do but I made myself this solemn vow
      A
That I's gonna be a lady someday
         C
Though I didn't know when or how
  E
I couldn't see spending the rest of my life
        G#                 C#m
With my head hung down in shame you know
 A
I might have been born just plain white trash
     B
But Fancy was my name
 
[Chorus 1]
C                      D               E run#1
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 G                     A                  E run#2  E
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 
[Verse 4]
 * 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
 
And an elegant New York townhouse flat
 
 * Guitar comes back in...
 E   repeat intro E G A E
And I ain't done bad
 
 E                                                 A
Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hippocrits
                   E
That would call me bad
    E
And criticize Mama for turning me out
    A                      E
No matter how little we had
 
 E
But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
    G#              C#m
For nigh on fifteen years
      A
I can still hear the desparation in my poor
 B
Mama's voice ringin' in my ear
 
[Chorus 1]
         C                      D               E run#1
She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 G                     A                  E run#2  E
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down
 
[Chorus 2]
     G                     A
Lord forgive me for what I do
        C                 D
But if you want out well it's up to you
     C
Now don't let me down
     B                     E
Your Mama's goina help you uptown
 
  E  G  A (repeat intro/outro to end)
I guess she did
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
 
Comments:
 
Play the following sequence of notes (open strings correspond
to CAPO at II).
 
Run#1 e|----------  Run#2 |----------|
      B|----------        |-0--------|
      G|-----0----        |---2-0----|
      D|-0-2---0-2        |-------0-2|
      A|----------        |----------|
      E|----------        |----------|
 
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).
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