By The Time I Get to Ballarat

 An Ode to Victoria -

By The Time I Get To Ballarat 

"By the time I get to Tullamarine,

She'll be rising,

She'll find the note I posted on Signal,

She'll laugh, when she reads the part that says I'm coming

Cause I've wanted to, so many times before. 

By the time I make Southern Cross,

She'll be working,

She'll probably stop at lunch,

And give me a call,

But she'll just hear that phone keep on ringing,

Out of coverage, that's all 

By the time I make Ballarat,

She'll be sleeping,

She'll turn softly and call my name out low,

And she'll cry, just to think, I may not really be here,

Though time and time I've tried to tell her so

She just didn't know,

I would really love her so."

Most of the above Lyrics are credited to Jimmy Webb.

The greatest version, to me, of this hit song was rendered by Glen Campbell.