Skip to content
Lyric
Dive
Public playlists
My playlists
Search
Sign in
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Isaac Hayes
Popularity ยท Moderate
+
๐ฌ๐ง English ยท Original
0
0
Listen
YouTube
1
2
3
0:00 / 0:00
Loading YouTube player...
Lyrics offset
Synced
Lyrics
Original
Translation
Bilingual
I'm talking about the power of love now
I'm gonna tell you what love can do
You know when they say love makes the world go 'round
That's the truth
Now I want your imagination
I want you to travel with me
Oh, come on, come on, come on
This young man was raised in the hills of Tennessee
When he reached the age of maturity, he moved to the west coast
And he fell in love when he got out there, with this young girl
And then the inevitable, became engaged and they were married
Oh, the power of love was upon 'em
But you see girls, I don't mean to come down on you
But this man loved this woman so
He could see no wrong, no, no, no
He spent his last dime on the woman because he loved her
And you know girls, you can take love
And kindness, sometimes for weakness
And she took it for granted
And she tipped out on him too
She said, "Ain't nobody gonna believe what you tell 'em, no way, fool"
Oh yeah girls, you do like that sometimes
But one day, one day
The old boy got sick and he had to come home
I don't have to tell you what he found
Oh, it hurt him so bad
He said, "Baby, mama, why?"
That's all he could say
But she said, "Oh, go on fool, you doin' it"
But the man wasn't doin' it, but that's
The only excuse she could give him
He said, "Mama, I can't take it, I got to leave you
I'm gon' leave you"
Well she tried to straighten up, she said she was gonna straighten up
She got a little job to help him out with the bills too
But that was just a sham
Because he found it again and again
And seven times he left this woman
And seven times he came back
He had taken all that he could stand
And the eighth time that this went down, he said, "Mama, I got to go"
He said, "I'm leaving my heart right here"
Oh, I don't wanna go but I got to leave you, mama
And as he's going down the highway
I guess it was around 3:30 in the morning
He could hardly see the road with the tears in his eyes
He could barely see the sign, the red on the side of the road
The next town, 125 miles away
And these very words came into his mind
He said
By the time I get to Phoenix
She'll be risin'
Oh, and she'll find the note
I left hangin' on the door
ย
She'll laugh when she reads the part
That says I'm leavin', yes she will
Why?
'Cause I've left that girl so many times before
Oh, by the time I make Albuquerque
She'll be workin'
ย
And she'll probably stop at lunch
Just to give her, her sweet good thing a call
Oh, she'll hear, oh, the phone
Keep right on ringin' and ringin' and
Ringin' and ringin', oh, and ringin'
Off the wall
Mama, mama, mama, that's all
ย
And by the time I get to Oklahoma
She'll be sleepin'
ย
She'll turn softly in her restless sleep
Call my name out low
Oh, then she'll cry
Just to think I, I would really leave her
But time after time after time after time and time again
I tried to tell her so
But she was a non-believer
And she didn't know, oh, that I, I would really go
ย
She didn't believe I would really go, oh no
I hate to leave you, baby, yes I do
I really, really, really hate to go, oh yeah
But this heart of mine just can't take no more
I hate to leave you, but I can't take no more
Oh, I hate to leave you, baby, yes I do
ย