When I was a boy, I started ramblin I left my mountain home, and mother dear She held me close, to her breast, then she made this last request Call me on the phone just once a year Don't forget to call collect on christmas That's the last words I heard my mother say While I'm waiting here alone, I'll be sitting by the phone I just want to hear your voice on christmas day So every year on christmas, I would call her I'd tell her I'd be home, before too long But this year, when I called, there was no anwser there at all I knew right then there must be something wrong Don't forget to call collect on christmas That's the last words I heard my mother say While I'm waiting here alone, I'll be sitting by the phone I just want to hear your voice on christmas day The ones who found her, said she tried to call the doctor Where she laid, she had been reaching for the phone But in my heart, I knew that she, had been reaching out for me The one who went away and left her all alone Don't forget to call collect on christmas That's the last words I heard my mother say While I'm waiting here alone, I'll be sitting by the phone I just want to hear your voice on christmas day