Beginning: I drove all day to North Mississippi I drove all night to the place I call home I hope that Johnny?s still waitin? there for me To take me beside him and call me his own But it?s too late now It?s too late now D The smell of magnolias Still sweet in my mouth And I know it?s too late now Johnny got mean when he started drinkin? And it wasn?t nobody?s fault when he cried So I left one mornin? from North Mississippi Cause I couldn?t stand to tell mama I lied Chorus Johnny took no time to ask me to marry And I said I would though I knew it was wrong They played Hank Williams in North Mississippi And I played the same girl I had all along Chorus Early one mornin? in North Mississippi I swore that I could hear somebody cry But it wasn?t my Johnny from North Mississippi All dressed up in orange on the day that I died Chorus: But it?s too late now It?s too late now The smell of magnolias Now gone from my mouth And I know it?s too late now