She didn't see me see her cryin'   As she sat there by the window   On a southbound Greyhound leavin' town   The hardest thing I've ever done   Was to walk away and let that woman go   'Cause she came close to turnin' me around      Now I know she missed her mama   'Cause that's the kind of life she comes from   Ain't no kind of life I'm ever gonna have   She said, she'd call me from the station   But I'll be gone before she gets there   And I'll see her every time I'm lookin' back      Heaven knows I ain't no angel   And I don't always do the right thing   And right now I know that she don't understand   But I'll sleep better knowin'   The only thing I ever loved   Is on that bus to Birmingham      Tonight I'll slip back in the shadows   And I'll sip a glass of whiskey   And I'll try to keep from whisperin' her name   But there's some highways I ain't driven   And there's some towns that I ain't lived in   And there's some times that I can't get out of the rain      And Lord I can't bear to break   Another promise that I made her   So I made out like I wanted her to go   And I'm better off believin'   That she's better off without me   'Cause I don't want her to see me do her wrong      Heaven knows I ain't no angel   And I don't always do the right thing   And right now I know that she don't understand   But I'll sleep better knowin'   The only thing I ever loved   Is on that bus to Birmingham      Heaven knows I don't always to the right thing   And right now I know that she don't understand   But I'll sleep better knowin'   The only thing I ever loved   Is on that bus to Birmingham