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 chorus but it s too late now it s too late now 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