(An: Hey everyone! This is gonna be a song-fic! I hope you enjoy it! NOTE:
You MUST read the lyrics! If you don't you will get confused! Just a little
warning!)
Disclaimer: The song belongs to Reba McIntire. I'm gonna be honest here people. I did change the last part of the lyrics to fit the story *blushes* shame on me. All of the characters you can recognize belong to Disney! It's almost all about the character Fancy with brief glimpses of two newsie characters at the end. Just a warning! I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Fancy
An old delicate woman sat in front of the fire blazing in the hearth of her vast home. If a stranger could see her they would know that she was reminiscing. She was a strong woman. Any one could tell from the way she looked. It was easy to tell that life was never easy for her. That it had been a struggle. A struggle that she had succeeded. She was now lost in memory and couldn't be disturbed even if someone tried.
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
I had just turned eighteen and mama said that she was gonna get me outta here for my birthday. She had a plan. I didn't know what it was, but I would do what ever was required to get out of this ramshackle shed. My mama always said I had a gift and I shouldn't be here. I deserved better. I wanted to stay to help care for the baby and work for the food so momma and I could eat. I was split in two. I wanted to leave and get out of this life to become something better, but I wanted mama and the baby to come with me. It was impossible. I heard the sound of rusty hinges on a door. I looked up towards the door and there was momma with a pretty new dress in her calloused hands. It was beautiful.
"Mama? How much did that cost you?" I asked with apprehension.
"It cost almost every penny we got."
"Almost every penny we got? We need that money! We need food and clothes! How are we gonna pay the rent?" I asked in shock.
"Don't worry, baby. Now I want you to get a bath ready we need to fix you up." She said beaming.
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 grown kid had stood
Mama washed my hair with the little soap we could find. She sat me in front of our broken mirror and took a broken comb and started to comb out the tangles and knots. She heated the curling rod and once my hair was dry, she curled it. My hair was now in spiral curls. I was foreboding what I looked like. I never was one to like getting gussied up. She took some of her old makeup and put some on my lips and eyes. She held my dress as I stepped into it. I can still remember the cool feel of satin on my bare legs. It had trim on the bottom. I touched it. It was most certainly velvet. It had something that I didn't notice before. It had a split up the side of the dress right up to my hip. My eyes widened at the thought of showing so much leg. Mama steered me back into the front of the broken mirror. I was apprehensive about what I was going to see. My heart beat wildly in my chest. I couldn't even recognize my self. I wasn't a woman. I was a child. Not even half grown. How easy was it for me to become a woman in such little time. But when I looked into my eyes I saw a sparkle of hope there and at once I knew it was me. My mama always told me that even in the worst situations my eyes always sparkled with hope. She pulled back my brown hair and whispered into 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
I promised that I wouldn't.
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
Mama asked which perfume I wanted to wear. She dabbed a bit on my neck and wrists. She kissed my cheek tenderly, the way only mothers can do when they've seen that their children have grown up. She looked pitifully at me. Tears of grief welled up in gray eyes. She looked at our surrounding house and took a good long hard look at me. Her breath was now coming out in sobs.
"Your Pa's run'd off, the cheatin bastard. We'll never have to worry about his ass anymore. We won't ever give up anything to him again. No more nights of starvin, because we had to feed him first." She took a deep breath, "Baby, I gotta tell you, I'm sick. I don't think I'm gonna get better any time soon. If I die the baby's gonna starve to death. I don't want that to happen."
"Who would?" I asked hastily, tears forming in my eyes.
"I know baby, I know." My heart could feel her breaking down.
"Here, I know it's not much, but it's all I have to give to you." She put something around my neck. As I examined it more closely I noticed it was a locket. I read the inscription and looked up to mama. I shivered as I watched the roaches on the floor. I knew I had to get out of this place. I wanted to be something better. I wanted it bad, but not as bad as my mama. She only wanted what's best for me and she'd do anything to get me out of here. No more roaches on the floor, no more cold nights, and no more going hungry.
"Mama what do I do?" I couldn't even tell that was me talkin.
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 heeled 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 once again made me promise to not let her down.
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 now
Well, it's up to you
I walked out of the shack and haven't returned since. Later I heard that mama died and some welfare people from the city took the baby. I didn't even try to get the baby back. It was better off. I couldn't give it everything that it needed. But I cried pathetically on the street that night, the baby was my flesh and blood and apart of my family.
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
I was on the streets for a while. There was no way I could get out of what I had gotten my self into. I was in too deep to get out of this hole that I dug myself. Even if I tried I would only be digging in deeper. Finally one night I understood what my mama was talkin about. But I know I would need help doing it. I couldn't make it on my own. It would take some time, but I knew I could do it.
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'd been talkin' about
In the night I made a vow. Tears of self pity rolled down my cheeks making trails, cleaning away the dirt that had caked on my face. I'm gonna be a lady someday even though I didn't know how to become one. My mama would have wanted it that way. I was gonna become somthin my mama never was. I was gonna make her proud. My name was Fancy and I was going to make that mean something.
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 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
Nights were harsh for me. The only place I slept was in an alley way. I had a blanket that I took from my home, but it was so thin that I didn't stay warm. I was sick a lot of the time. My will kept me going though. But at times I wanted to end it. I wanted to rid me of my pain, but I knew I couldn't. Not that it wasn't possible, but I was too scared to do it. The only thing I could do was cry. And that I did. All the emotional build up took a toll on my body and the only way I knew how to rid of it was cry. The funny thing is that I heard the tenements of the building I slept next to search for the sound of crying that they heard every night. They couldn't find it though and I thank God every night that they didn't. They would most likely turn me into authorities.
As sat in the shadows one night, crying again, which was no surprise, I heard a voice.
"Would you like to come with me? I can clothe, feed you, and get you off these streets. I don't want to see a young woman your age doing this for a living."
I turned around and saw a young man about my age a little older in a business suit and hat drawn to his chest in a manner of respect for a lady. I was more than suspicious. What would a man of this class want with someone like me?
"Why? Why would you offer me instead of anyone else?"
"You're younger than all these women, they've most likely had their chance to leave this kind of life. You look new to this. I thought I'd give you your chance." He said with sympathy in his voice.
"Fine, but no more sympathy, please?" I replied.
"Alright, what is your name, miss?" He smiled a little.
"Fancy. And yours?" I was still a little suspicious.
"My name is Andrew Conlon, but you can call me Spot. Almost everyone else does." He said smiling his crystal blue eyes sparkling. "There are a few things that I would you like to do. Can I offer you a job?"
"Sure. What is it?" My knees were shaking now. I was nervous. What would he want me to do?
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 got praised for my charm. From what Spot said, I impressed the King of England. He asked me to use my charm several times to impress congressmen, aristocrats and other social elite people. Over the year I slowly fell in love. At first I didn't understand what I was feeling or how to explain it. Then the day I saw him smiling at me for an earlier task I completed successfully, I knew. I knew I was completely head over heels in love with him. I discovered after eavesdropping on conversation between Spot and his long time friend, Jack Kelly, that he felt the same way for me. Jack came and talked to me about my feelings on love and Spot. I didn't repress anything at all. Spot and I got married later that year.
I charmed a king, a congressman
And an occasional aristocrat
Then I got me a Georgia mansion
And an elegant New York townhouse flat
And I ain't done bad
And I learned. I learned so much while married to my husband. All of Spot's "friends" thought he was crazy for marrying me. All of them thought I was a bad person. The families that knew me as a charming maid, all the families that I thought respectable and kind, now thought me a wench only trying to weasel money out of Spot and treated me like dirt. They would criticize mama for egging me on to get out in to the world. The didn't understand why she did what she did.
Now, in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites
That would call me bad
And criticize Mama for turnin' me out
No matter how little we had
But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
For nigh on 35 years
I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice
Ringin' in my ear
I remember just what my mama told me down to the very last word.
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
Now don't let me down
Your mama's gonna help you uptown
I guess she did
Disclaimer: The song belongs to Reba McIntire. I'm gonna be honest here people. I did change the last part of the lyrics to fit the story *blushes* shame on me. All of the characters you can recognize belong to Disney! It's almost all about the character Fancy with brief glimpses of two newsie characters at the end. Just a warning! I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Fancy
An old delicate woman sat in front of the fire blazing in the hearth of her vast home. If a stranger could see her they would know that she was reminiscing. She was a strong woman. Any one could tell from the way she looked. It was easy to tell that life was never easy for her. That it had been a struggle. A struggle that she had succeeded. She was now lost in memory and couldn't be disturbed even if someone tried.
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
I had just turned eighteen and mama said that she was gonna get me outta here for my birthday. She had a plan. I didn't know what it was, but I would do what ever was required to get out of this ramshackle shed. My mama always said I had a gift and I shouldn't be here. I deserved better. I wanted to stay to help care for the baby and work for the food so momma and I could eat. I was split in two. I wanted to leave and get out of this life to become something better, but I wanted mama and the baby to come with me. It was impossible. I heard the sound of rusty hinges on a door. I looked up towards the door and there was momma with a pretty new dress in her calloused hands. It was beautiful.
"Mama? How much did that cost you?" I asked with apprehension.
"It cost almost every penny we got."
"Almost every penny we got? We need that money! We need food and clothes! How are we gonna pay the rent?" I asked in shock.
"Don't worry, baby. Now I want you to get a bath ready we need to fix you up." She said beaming.
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 grown kid had stood
Mama washed my hair with the little soap we could find. She sat me in front of our broken mirror and took a broken comb and started to comb out the tangles and knots. She heated the curling rod and once my hair was dry, she curled it. My hair was now in spiral curls. I was foreboding what I looked like. I never was one to like getting gussied up. She took some of her old makeup and put some on my lips and eyes. She held my dress as I stepped into it. I can still remember the cool feel of satin on my bare legs. It had trim on the bottom. I touched it. It was most certainly velvet. It had something that I didn't notice before. It had a split up the side of the dress right up to my hip. My eyes widened at the thought of showing so much leg. Mama steered me back into the front of the broken mirror. I was apprehensive about what I was going to see. My heart beat wildly in my chest. I couldn't even recognize my self. I wasn't a woman. I was a child. Not even half grown. How easy was it for me to become a woman in such little time. But when I looked into my eyes I saw a sparkle of hope there and at once I knew it was me. My mama always told me that even in the worst situations my eyes always sparkled with hope. She pulled back my brown hair and whispered into 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
I promised that I wouldn't.
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
Mama asked which perfume I wanted to wear. She dabbed a bit on my neck and wrists. She kissed my cheek tenderly, the way only mothers can do when they've seen that their children have grown up. She looked pitifully at me. Tears of grief welled up in gray eyes. She looked at our surrounding house and took a good long hard look at me. Her breath was now coming out in sobs.
"Your Pa's run'd off, the cheatin bastard. We'll never have to worry about his ass anymore. We won't ever give up anything to him again. No more nights of starvin, because we had to feed him first." She took a deep breath, "Baby, I gotta tell you, I'm sick. I don't think I'm gonna get better any time soon. If I die the baby's gonna starve to death. I don't want that to happen."
"Who would?" I asked hastily, tears forming in my eyes.
"I know baby, I know." My heart could feel her breaking down.
"Here, I know it's not much, but it's all I have to give to you." She put something around my neck. As I examined it more closely I noticed it was a locket. I read the inscription and looked up to mama. I shivered as I watched the roaches on the floor. I knew I had to get out of this place. I wanted to be something better. I wanted it bad, but not as bad as my mama. She only wanted what's best for me and she'd do anything to get me out of here. No more roaches on the floor, no more cold nights, and no more going hungry.
"Mama what do I do?" I couldn't even tell that was me talkin.
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 heeled 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 once again made me promise to not let her down.
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 now
Well, it's up to you
I walked out of the shack and haven't returned since. Later I heard that mama died and some welfare people from the city took the baby. I didn't even try to get the baby back. It was better off. I couldn't give it everything that it needed. But I cried pathetically on the street that night, the baby was my flesh and blood and apart of my family.
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
I was on the streets for a while. There was no way I could get out of what I had gotten my self into. I was in too deep to get out of this hole that I dug myself. Even if I tried I would only be digging in deeper. Finally one night I understood what my mama was talkin about. But I know I would need help doing it. I couldn't make it on my own. It would take some time, but I knew I could do it.
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'd been talkin' about
In the night I made a vow. Tears of self pity rolled down my cheeks making trails, cleaning away the dirt that had caked on my face. I'm gonna be a lady someday even though I didn't know how to become one. My mama would have wanted it that way. I was gonna become somthin my mama never was. I was gonna make her proud. My name was Fancy and I was going to make that mean something.
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 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
Nights were harsh for me. The only place I slept was in an alley way. I had a blanket that I took from my home, but it was so thin that I didn't stay warm. I was sick a lot of the time. My will kept me going though. But at times I wanted to end it. I wanted to rid me of my pain, but I knew I couldn't. Not that it wasn't possible, but I was too scared to do it. The only thing I could do was cry. And that I did. All the emotional build up took a toll on my body and the only way I knew how to rid of it was cry. The funny thing is that I heard the tenements of the building I slept next to search for the sound of crying that they heard every night. They couldn't find it though and I thank God every night that they didn't. They would most likely turn me into authorities.
As sat in the shadows one night, crying again, which was no surprise, I heard a voice.
"Would you like to come with me? I can clothe, feed you, and get you off these streets. I don't want to see a young woman your age doing this for a living."
I turned around and saw a young man about my age a little older in a business suit and hat drawn to his chest in a manner of respect for a lady. I was more than suspicious. What would a man of this class want with someone like me?
"Why? Why would you offer me instead of anyone else?"
"You're younger than all these women, they've most likely had their chance to leave this kind of life. You look new to this. I thought I'd give you your chance." He said with sympathy in his voice.
"Fine, but no more sympathy, please?" I replied.
"Alright, what is your name, miss?" He smiled a little.
"Fancy. And yours?" I was still a little suspicious.
"My name is Andrew Conlon, but you can call me Spot. Almost everyone else does." He said smiling his crystal blue eyes sparkling. "There are a few things that I would you like to do. Can I offer you a job?"
"Sure. What is it?" My knees were shaking now. I was nervous. What would he want me to do?
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 got praised for my charm. From what Spot said, I impressed the King of England. He asked me to use my charm several times to impress congressmen, aristocrats and other social elite people. Over the year I slowly fell in love. At first I didn't understand what I was feeling or how to explain it. Then the day I saw him smiling at me for an earlier task I completed successfully, I knew. I knew I was completely head over heels in love with him. I discovered after eavesdropping on conversation between Spot and his long time friend, Jack Kelly, that he felt the same way for me. Jack came and talked to me about my feelings on love and Spot. I didn't repress anything at all. Spot and I got married later that year.
I charmed a king, a congressman
And an occasional aristocrat
Then I got me a Georgia mansion
And an elegant New York townhouse flat
And I ain't done bad
And I learned. I learned so much while married to my husband. All of Spot's "friends" thought he was crazy for marrying me. All of them thought I was a bad person. The families that knew me as a charming maid, all the families that I thought respectable and kind, now thought me a wench only trying to weasel money out of Spot and treated me like dirt. They would criticize mama for egging me on to get out in to the world. The didn't understand why she did what she did.
Now, in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites
That would call me bad
And criticize Mama for turnin' me out
No matter how little we had
But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin'
For nigh on 35 years
I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice
Ringin' in my ear
I remember just what my mama told me down to the very last word.
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
Now don't let me down
Your mama's gonna help you uptown
I guess she did