Song Lyrics

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 '65
We were hungry just barely alive
By May the tenth, when Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so. well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went na, na, na, na, na, na

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
Said, "Virgil, quick come see'
There goes Robert E Lee"

And I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if my money's no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went na, na, na, na, na, na

Like my father before me I'm a workin' man
And like my brother above me who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave

And 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 the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went na, na, na, na, na, na

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin'
They went na, na, na, na, na, na

Robbie Robertson