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