Fancy

Crippled by extreme poverty and abandoned by her husband, the woman in this song sends her 18-year old daughter to work as a prostitute. The daughter (Fancy) is very successful at her work, but is haunted by the memory of her sad and desperate mother.

This was written by Bobby Gentry and first appeared on her 1969 album Fancy. Gentry is known for her 1967 hit "Ode To Billie Joe."

Reba McEntire had wanted to record the song since 1984 but her producer at the time, Jimmy Bowen, was against it because he believed the song was too closely associated with Gentry. In 1990 McEntire changed producers to Tony Brown. The singer and Brown had almost finished the recording of Rumor Has It when the producer asked her if there were any other songs she wanted on the album. McEntire told him about her desire to cover "Fancy," and the two set about creating what would become one of her signature songs.