Song Lyrics

Virgil Caine is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came
And they tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had 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 all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na"

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
"Say 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
You take what you need and you 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 all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na"

Like my father before me
I will work the land
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
When all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na"

The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And you could hear 'em all singing
They went, "Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na"

Robbie Robertson