Southern Ember Collective – (1991) Riverbend Tales – Magnolia Stand

[Intro: (boogie guitar riff, piano stabs)] [Verse: (steady groove, raw vocals)] moss hangs like memory ’cross the old porch rail, her eyes hold echoes of every storm-laden tale. [Chorus: (backing shouts, piano accents)] i’ll stand by the magnolia, weather each stand, roots digging through shadows, blood in this land, fist gripping this ground, defy fate’s demand, i’ll stand by the magnolia, weather each stand. [Verse: (driving bass, harmonica moan)] hands stained from the ledger, nights laced with sigh, she fights for tomorrow under slate-lined sky. [Chorus: (guitar shout, vocal echo)] i’ll guard the magnolia, branching out strong, songs in the wind whisper where we belong, steel in her backbone, hope in her song, i’ll guard the magnolia, branching out strong. [Bridge: (spoken over muted guitar, hush)] roots twist through darkness, veins map every scar, where love and pain tangled is exactly where you are. [Instrumental: (harmonica solo builds, guitar interlace)] [Break: (drums stomp, bass thumps)] [Verse: (urgency rising, vocal grit)] storms crash in the distance, thunder knocks the door, still she leans to the legend that beats at her core. [Chorus: (dynamic shift, vocal soar)] STAND by the magnolia, EVEN when it sways, MEMories riverwide, carve CAVERNS in days, HEART steel resolved, no SHAdows betray, stand by the magnolia, even when it sways. [Chorus: variation] stand by that magnolia, burning through the phase, souls anchor in brindle, break through the haze, fight past the sorrow that time can’t erase, stand by that magnolia, burning through the phase. [Outro: (fading piano, echoing harmonica)] ooo OOo oOO. ooo OOo oOO OOo.