The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Robbie Robertson, 1969· Songs Well-Known in America · p.327
(Intro) Em G 2x G Em
Em G C Em
Virgil Caine is my name, and I drove on the Danville train
Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me
Like my father before me, I'm a working man
G Em C Em
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came, and tore up the tracks a-gain.
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Like my brother above me, I took a rebel stand.
C G
In the winter of sixty-five, we were
Now I don't mind chopping wood, and I
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a
Em C
hungry, just barely alive.
don't care if the money's no good.
Yankee laid him in his grave
Em C
By May the tenth, Richmond, had fell,
Just take what you need, and leave the rest,
I swear by the blood be-low my feet,
G Em A
it was a time I re-member, oh so well,
but they should never have taken the very best.
you can't raise the Caine back up when it's in defeat.
Chorus:
G C G Em
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringing,
G C G Em
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin'.
G Em A C
They went La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La