Read your note this morning
"Bye-bye girl" that's all it said
Glad I found it first
Before the kids got out of bed

Baked a tray of muffins
Hung some wet-wash out to dry
By the time the kids got up
I could look them in the eye

Chorus:

You've gone away
You've gone away
How will I get through the day
This god-forsaken day

Drank some bitter coffee
Read your note ten times or more
And when I'd washed the dishes twice
I got down and scrubbed the floor

Empty chair at supper
Everybody's acting strange
All the food just getting cold
Kids real quiet for a change

(chorus)

Rain was falling hard
As I walked slowly up the stairs
Pushed my tears back down
As a stood listening to their prayers

There's your empty pillow
Your side's flat right to the wall
Now's the time for private crying
Now it hurts me most of all

You've gone away
I've turned off the light
How will I get through the night
This god-forsaken night

This long and lonesome god-forsaken night