I know that when I left you,
I would never be the same;
but leaving you, I had to do it,
excuses are so sad and lame.

I was relieved, but hardly happy,
yet I'm serene and now at peace;
the tension's gone, the burden lifted,
the turmoil and the anguish, ceased.

Love's unkind in certain places,
there, with you, was one of them;
I had to nip it,   "in the bud,"
cut off the bending stem.

I know that when I left you,
what we had was done and gone;
but I couldn't listen to the record skip,
to play, again, the same old song.

And I know that when I left you,
the final curtain has come down;
and when I left, it was for good,
you and love,  this tired town.