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