50 Greatest Hits

Oh ain't life wonderful
When everything is right
But sometimes wonderful
Can fall apart sometimes
When your troubles knock you down
Pick yourself up off the ground and

[Chorus]
Walk on
Walk on
Nothing ever stays wrong that long
Walk on
Oh walk on
Don't just stand there in the storm
Walk toward the light till you find the sun
And you'll be better off in the long run
And walk on

Oh it's a heartache when love comes to an end
But even though your heart breaks
You know it's gonna mend
Keep the faith right through goodbye
And don't you ever break your stride

[Chorus: x2]

Walk on
Walk on
Oh walk on
Walk on
Oh walk on

Looking back over the years
Of All the things I've always meant to say
But words didn't come easily
So many times through empty fears
Of all of the nights I tried to pick up the phone
So scared of who might be answering

You try to live your life from day to day
But seeing you across the room tonight
Just gives me away

[Chorus]
Cause the heart won't lie
Sometimes life gets in the way
But there's one thing that won't change
I know I've tried
The heart won't lie
You can live your alibi
Who can see you're lost inside a foolish disguise
The heart won't lie

Long after tonight
Will you still hear my voice through the radio
Old desires make us act carelessly
Long after tonight, after the fire
After the scattered ashes fly
Through the four winds blown and gone
Will you come back to me?

You try to live your life from day to day
But seeing you across the room tonight
Just gives me away

[Chorus]

The greatest man I never knew lived just down the hall,
and ev'ry day we said hello but never touched at all.
He was in his paper. I was in my room.
How was I to know he thought I hung the moon?

The greatest man I never knew came home late ev'ry night,
He never had to much to say. Too much was on his mind.
I never really knew him, oh and now it seems so sad.
Ev'rything he gave to us took all he had.

Then the days turned into years, and the mem'ries to black and white.
He grew cold like an old winter wind blowing across my life.

The greatest words I never heard I guess I'll never hear.
The man I thought could never die has been dead almost a year.
Oh, he was good at bus'ness but there was bus'ness left to do.
He never said he loved me. Guess he thought I knew.

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

It sure gets quiet
When the kids go to bed
We sit here in the silence
Putting off what must be said
I read a book you watch TV
As our love dies quietly
I'm so sad I don't know what I just read

[Chorus]
Somebody should leave
But which one should it be
You need the kids and they need me
Somebody should leave
But we hate to give in
We keep hoping somehow we might need each other again

You say goodnight and turn and face the wall
We lie here in the darkness and the tears start to fall
If it was only you and me goodbye might come more easily
But what about those babies down the hall

[Chorus: x2]

She married when she was twenty
She thought she was ready
Now she's not so sure
She thought she'd done some living
But now she's just wonderin'
What she's living for
Now she's feeling that there's something more

[Chorus]
Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin
Is there life out there

She's always lived for tomorrow
She's never learned how
To live for today
She's dyin' to try something foolish
Do something crazy
Or just get away
Something for herself for a change

[Chorus]

There's a place in the sun that she's never been
Where life is fair and time is a friend
Would she do it the same as she did back then
She looks out the window and wonders again

[Chorus: x2]

White light shadows gather around my door
They find me dreaming all alone once more
Memories come around to haunt my sleepless sounds
Now's the time I must be strong
I believe it won't be long

'Til love comes again
To end these lonely nights
'Til love comes again
To drive these tears I cry
It's darkest just before the dawn
And I'll just keep holding on
'Til then
'Til love comes again

Somewhere someone feels the way I do
And like me they dream of the love that's true
One day I'll look into his eyes I'll know the moment's right
Until then I'll just wait
No matter how long it might take

'Til love comes again
To end these lonely nights
'Til love comes again
To drive these tears I cry
It's darkest just before the dawn
And I'll just keep holding on
'Til then
'Til love comes again
Oh until then
'Til love comes again

You talked me into moving in and giving you my key
You said you'd be a mess now if it hadn't been for me
You said I stole your heart away by looking in your eyes
I wonder now how many times you sold that pack of lies

[Chorus]
If this is how you act when you give your heart away
Well, take it back
Take it back

You told me I was everything you wanted and more
Then tell me what you're doing now sneaking out the back door
You're bringing home flowers and a bottle of Chablis
You forgot I don't drink wine I know that bottle's not for me

[Chorus]

Oh, you must think I'm blind
And I don't smell your new cologne
You don't think I notice
All the nights I spend alone

Well, I'm not one for sitting 'round in some ole pity pool
You think you got a ticket and I must be some kind of fool
I hate to steal your thunder but your playing days are through
At least they are with me cause babe, I got no use for you

Tonight laying on the street
Babe, your bag is packed
So, take it back

When I heard that familiar voice,
My heart stopped dead in it's tracks.
Across the room I could see him there,
A ghost from my past.
But he's too caught up to notice me.
She must be his new love.
I never dreamed that it would hurt this much,
It's just

I know how he feels.
How warm his touch is.
Oh how he feels.
How soft his kiss is.
And it cuts right down to the bone
Cause I let him go.
I know how he cares.
How strong his love can be,
When he believes it's real.
Oh I've been there.
I know how he feels.

As long as I kept him out of site,
I kept from going out of my mind.
Tried to believe that leaving him was some how justified.
But tonight there's no denying what a love like his is worth
He once looked at me the way he's looking at her.
What a lucky girl.