"Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the Grateful Dead. Written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "Truckin'," "Casey Jones," "Uncle John's Band," and "Touch of Grey."
First released on the 1970 album American Beauty, "Sugar Magnolia" made its live debut on June 7, 1970 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. When performed live, the song was often divided into two different entities: "Sugar Magnolia" proper and the "Sunshine Daydream" coda. The break between the two could be a few beats, a set, or even a few concerts. On one memorable occasion, the week of long-time friend of the band Bill Graham's death, the coda was held off for an entire week.
According to Deadbase X, "Sugar Magnolia" was the Dead's second-most played in concert song of their long career, with 596 performances, trailing only "Me & My Uncle".
It has been said that the song was written about Bob Weir's girlfriend, Frankie Weir (née Azzara), who lived with him for many years. In any case, the song's line "she don't come and I won't follow" echoes the folk song, "Sourwood Mountain", which includes the line "she won't come and I won't call 'er." Aside from obvious references to several types of plants (magnolia), the line "jump like a Willys in four wheel drive" refers to the Willys Jeep, which was actually "jumped" off the ground by some drivers.
The semi-official 1972 Dead movie Sunshine Daydream has its title taken from the song's coda section.
In Donna Tartt's novel, The Secret History, the hippies would only allow admission to the bunker to those who could recite the second verse of 'Sugar Magnolia'.
An interesting version with a slightly different melody line was played at Irvine Meadows on April 28, 1989.
- Key: Sugar Magnolia: A; Sunshine Daydream: B
- Time Signature: 4/4
- Chords Used: Sugar Magnolia: A, B, C#m, D, E, F#, F#m, G; Sunshine Daydream: B, F#, E
Read more about Sugar Magnolia: Appears On
Famous quotes containing the words sugar and/or magnolia:
“Some days your hat’s off to the full-time mothers for being able to endure the relentless routine and incessant policing seven days a week instead of two. But on other days, merely the image of this woman crafting a brontosaurus out of sugar paste and sheet cake for her two-year-old’s birthday drives a stake through your heart.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“... the majority of colored men do not yet think it worth while that women aspire to higher education.... The three R’s, a little music and a good deal of dancing, a first rate dress-maker and a bottle of magnolia balm, are quite enough generally to render charming any woman possessed of tact and the capacity for worshipping masculinity.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)