Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of sixty-five, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember oh so well
It was the night they drove Old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringin'
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went
La, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
'Virgil, quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee'
Now I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if my money's no good
Just take what you 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 ringin'
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went
La, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la.
Like my father before me
I will work the land
And like my brother before me
I took a rebel stand
He was just 18, proud and brave
When a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringin'
The night they drove Old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went
La, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Recorded By: Joan Baez
Written By: J. Robbie Robertson