[Verse 1]
Who doesn't know what I'm talkin' about?
Who's never left home, who's never struck out?
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

[Verse 2]
Many precede and many will follow
A young girl's dreams no longer hollow
Yeah, it takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed

[Chorus]
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

[Verse 3]
She traveled this road as a child
Wide-eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won't be coming back with the rest
If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test

[Chorus]
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes
She knows the highest stakes, yeah
[Verse 4]
As her folks drive away her dad yells, "Check the oil"
Mom stares out the window and says, "I'm leavin' my girl"
She said it didn't seem like that long ago
When she stood there and let her own folks know

[Chorus]
She needed wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes
She knows the high stakes
She knows the highest stakes

[Outro]
She knows the highest stakes
(Wide open spaces)
She knows the highest stakes
(Wide open spaces)
(Wide open, wide open spaces)
(Wide open, wide open spaces)