By the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be rising
And she'll find that note that I left hanging on the door
And she'll laugh when she reads the part
That says: "I'm leaving"
'Cause I've left that girl so many times before
And by the time I get to Albuquerque, she'll be working
And she'll take off time just to give me a call
And she'll hear that phone keep right on ringing and ringing
On the wall, yeah oh, that's all
And by the time I make Oklahoma, she'll be sleeping
She'll turn softly in her sleep and call my name out low
And then she'll cry just to think that I'd really leave her, I left her
But time after time after time I tried to tell her so
But she just didn't know That I would really go
That I would really go