[Chorus:]
The Painted Desert
Can wait till summer
We've played this game of just imagine long enough
Wait till summer?
When I'm sure the rains have ended
The blooms have gone
Every one killed by the morning frost

[Verse 1:]
Is a cactus blooming there
In every roadside stand
Where the big deal is cowboy gear
Sewn in Japan?

[Chorus:]
The Painted Desert
Can wait till summer
We've played this game of just imagine long enough
Wait till summer?
When I'm sure the rains have ended
The blooms have gone
Every one killed by the morning frost

[Verse 2:]
Is a cactus blooming there
Upon the northern rim
Or in the ruins of
The Hopi mesa dens?
[Bridge 1:]
You met a new friend in the canyon
(or so you wrote)
On a blanket in the cooling sand
You and your friend agreed that
The stars were so many there
They seemed to overlap

[Chorus:]
The Painted Desert
Can wait till summer
We've played this game of just imagine long enough
Wait till summer?
When I am sure the rain has ended
The blooms have gone
Every one killed by the morning frost

[Verse 3:]
Was a cactus blooming there
As you watched the native boy?
In a Flagstaff trailer court, you wrote the line
"He kicked a tumbleweed
And his mother called him home
Where the Arizona moon
Met the Arizona sun"
[Bridge 2:]
I wanted to be there by May at the latest time
Isn't that the plan we had or have you changed your mind?
I haven't read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson
April is over, will you tell me how long
Before I can be there?