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

[Chorus]
I want your loving more and more
I want your kisses that's for sure
I die each time
I hear the sound
They're saying here he comes
He's Cathy's Clown

You know you've got to stand tall
You know a man can't crawl
And when you let her tell you lies
And you let em pass you by
You're not a man at all

She don't want your loving anymore
She don't want your kisses that's for sure
Why do you let them put you down
And let em call you Cathy's Clown

When you see me shed a tear
Then you know that I'm sincere
I just think it's kinda sad
That she's treating you so bad
And I'm the one who cares

[Chorus]

You're Cathy's Clown
You're Cathy's Clown

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

You sure know what you're doing holding me this way.
And I'll go where you lead me
Anywhere you say.
You've got me where you want me.
So darling please be kind.
Before you take it all, and I
make that final fall.

You've got to keep in mind I'm
a new fool at an old game.
A kid out of school, trying to find my way.
But I don't know the rules, teach me how to play.
I'm just a new fool at an old game.

Maybe I'm a dreamer, or maybe I'm naive.
But when you say you love me I start to believe
That coal can turn to diamonds.
And this night will never end.
But if it isn't so, and I cry when you go.

You've got to understand that
I'm a new fool at an old game.
A kid out of school, trying to find my way.
But I don't know the rules, teach me how to play.
I'm just a new fool at an old game

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]

Another morning, another day in your life
Without someone there by you
You had a dream again last night
You wonder why the dream just won't come true
So what ya gonna do
Walk around with your head hung down
Maybe that's the reason you've never found
The one for you
So you've got to let your love shine through
Your eyes, your smile
You've got to let somebody know how you feel inside
Your heart, you'll find
Somebody wants to be a part of your life
And if you just believe
And say that's what you're gonna do
One day love will find it's way to you
Yes it will
One day love will find it's way to you
Another party, and all your friends are smiles
Oh you might meet someone new
And being close would be so nice
In this life the chances are so few
So what ya gonna do
Walk around with your head hung down
Maybe that's the reason you've never found
The one for you
So you've got to let your love shine through
Your eyes, your smile
You've got to let somebody know how you feel inside
Your heart, you'll find
Somebody wants to be a part of your life
And if you just believe
And say that's what you're gonna do
One day love will find it's way to you
Oh yes it will
One day love will find it's way to you
Don't you think you're the only one
Oh somewhere in the world
There's a lonely heart looking for someone
You've got to let your love shine through
Your eyes, your smile
You've got to let somebody know how you feel inside
Your heart, you'll find
Somebody wants to be a part of your life
Cause your eyes, your smile
You've got to let somebody know how you feel inside
Somebody wants to be a part of your life

There were no angry words at all
As we carried boxes down the hall
One by one we put them in your car
Nothing much for us to say
One last goodbye and you drove away
I watched your tail-lights
As they faded in the dark
I couldn't face the night in that lonely bed
So I laid down on the couch instead

[Chorus]
Last night I prayed the Lord my soul to keep
Then I cried myself to sleep
So sure life wouldn't go on without you
But oh this sun is blinding me
As it wakes me from the dark
I guess the world didn't stop
For my broken heart

Clocks still tickin', life goes on
Radio still plays a song
As I try to put my scattered thoughts in place
And it takes all the strength I've got
To stumble to the coffee pot
The first of many lonely mornings I've got to face
You call to see if I'm ok
Look out the window and I just say

[Chorus]

I guess the world ain't gonna stop
For my broken heart

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.