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