[Intro | lone slide guitar | bass and brushed drums ease in | organ pad] [Verse 1 | bass and drums pocket | low restrained vocal] She bloomed white in a dirty town Roots dug deep in this hard-packed ground Seventeen, dancing in the parking lot haze Had the whole town talking for days [Pre-Chorus | drums tighten | slide guitar rises] Cigarette smoke, cutoffs, and gasoline Prettiest wreck that I've ever seen [Chorus | full band swells | gang vocals answer the hook | slide guitar fills] Sweet Magnolia, perfume in my veins Pretty white petals hiding all the stains I'm still drinking to your ghost tonight You were gone before we said goodbye Yeah, gone before goodbye [Verse 2 | organ swells under | second guitar picks up] Daddy had a fist like a heavy stone Mama was around but never at home So she'd climb through my window at night First girl I ever held till the morning light [Pre-Chorus | drums tighten | slide guitar rises] Kissed like whiskey, left like smoke Broke my heart then called it a joke [Chorus | stacked high harmonies | layered guitars] Sweet Magnolia, perfume in my veins Pretty white petals hiding all the stains I'm still drinking to your ghost tonight You were gone before we said goodbye Yeah, gone before goodbye (gone before goodbye) [Verse 3 | band pulls back | tremolo guitar | vocal low and even] Said she needed time to find her way Saw her Friday, fourteen days Riding shotgun in some senior's truck My name washed off like it never stuck Kissed him slow in the grocery lot [Break | band drops to bass pulse] Fourteen days was all I got [Bridge | stripped to organ and bass | vocal near spoken] And I know, I know You're blooming somewhere new But I'm still here, still here Still drinking to you [Interlude | almost silent | lone slide guitar note | vocal at the floor, near spoken] Something that beautiful shouldn't grow in the mud But Sweet Magnolia You always grew best in blood [Verse 4 | band builds back in | drums driving | organ swelling] Heard you married some rich man's son Even flowers need a place in the sun I'm still rotting in this same damn bar You got a new name, same old scars You traded up from trash like me But even magnolias rot eventually [Solo | mournful slide guitar solo | full band underneath] [Final Chorus | biggest drums | gang vocals on every line | full harmony stack] Sweet Magnolia, perfume in my veins Pretty white petals hiding all the stains I'm still drinking to your ghost tonight You were gone before we said goodbye (gone before goodbye) Still got your picture in my truck Sweet Magnolia, I'm just another drunk Singing 'bout you one more time Yeah, one last goddamn time [Outro | band thinning out | slide guitar fading | last word near spoken at the floor] Sweet Magnolia My Sweet Magnolia Rotting in the ground Sweet Magnolia Gone
