Lyrics

MISS MAGNOLIA / © James Barton 2024

The funeral fell in the summertime, lower Mississippi late July
A dark blue suit, a shirt and tie, fresh for the service
Made it home after two days’ drive, rental sedan with sweat in my eyes
Wandered ‘round church, swatting at flies, a solemn occurrence

Old Uncle Ned…was dead and gone
Mean as…pure ammonia
Taught me right…taught me wrong
Ooh, Miss Magnolia

In due time the ancients appeared, word to a neighbor, a cluck in her ear
Nary a nod to a visitor near, pairs of bees a-buzzin’
Across the room by a window sill, a white rose pinned to his suit lapel
Stood a gentleman named Gabriel, my favorite cousin

He said, “Old Uncle Ned…never had no friends
“Family only liked him…ever now and then…”
“Read the Sears Catalog…beginning to end” [Chapter and verse],
Ooh, Miss Magnolia

We swapped lies like seasoned pros, girls and boys we might have known
“Anyone remember Audrey Jo? What ever happened?”
Audrey Jo was a homecoming queen, lived in many a young man’s dreams
Carried on with the high school king, by the name of Donnie

Easy on the eye, soft to the touch
Pale as a princess with a teenage crush
Dressed all in satin, cradled a clutch
Ooh, Miss Magnolia

By the final song, the closing chord,
Don and Audrey were out the door
Dead Creek Bridge, same as before
Waited by the water

Beneath the live oaks there
Red twins beyond repair
A derringer sank in the stream
And leaves were slowly scattered

He said, “Old Uncle Ned was a queer old duck.
We watched it all happen from his pickup truck.
Left in the dirt lay a satin clutch
And the dawn held for a moment.”

Here’s to family, one by one, the one’s you choose, the ones you shun
Those who stay or cut and run, in search of better pickings
Things went wrong, things went right, pack up the car on a moonless night
Head due north, hang on tight, stir before it thickens
Ooh, Miss Magnolia