With “Elderberry Wine”, Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman consciously wanted to write a classic country song. No pressure! She and guitarist MJ Lenderman had broken up while the band recorded its 2025 album Bleeds. And though “Elderberry Wine” is a tender love song, like any enduring country tune, there’s plenty of heartbreak even in its sweetest moments.
Silly Love Songs
Love songs often offer idyllic romance. And in the opening verse, Hartzman calls a tender tune a con as she drives her partner to the airport. With the emergency brake on, she hopes to savor the time, or at least, put off saying goodbye for as long as she can.
Sweet song is a long con,
I drove you to the airport with the E-brake on.
Ain’t heard that voice in a long time,
Had to check back there to make sure you were alive.
Angel hum of an electric car,
Reverses toward me.
Sometimes in my head, I give up and flip the board completely.
In the chorus, Hartzman sings about how something sweet can also be toxic. “Elderberry is known as a healing fruit and is an ingredient in many tonics and syrups to aid the immune system. One time, however, my sister consumed them raw, and it immediately induced vomiting,” she said.
She described the dusty tune as “a love song about creating just the right environment for fulfillment.”
But everybody gets along just fine,
’Cause the champagne tastes like elderberry wine.
And the pink boiled eggs stay afloat in the brine,
’Cause even the best champagne still tastes like elderberry wine.
A Timeless Country Song
Meanwhile, Hartzman told Rolling Stone she wanted to write a timeless country song. “I wanted to write something that could maybe be considered more timeless, which I don’t know if I accomplished by mentioning an electric car. But a love song in general is going to be timeless if you do it right, and that’s what I was hoping to achieve,” she said.
Relationships, like bands, require the right chemistry. “Elderberry Wine” offers a metaphor for that process. And Hartzman experienced both, with Lenderman as the partner and bandmate. If that’s not a recipe for a great country song, then I’m not sure what is.
Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella