The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
(Robbie Robertson / Arr. by Ko-Do 2016)
Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train
'Til Stonewall's cavalry came, and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
I took the train to Richmond, it fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin'
They went La, La, La...
Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind' choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
Ya take what ya need, and leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin'
They went La, La, La...
Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man
Like my brother above me, I took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the blood below my feet
You can't raise the cane back up when its in seed
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin'
They went La, La, La...