lifeblood: songs: lyrics: the night they drove old dixie down

virgil caine is my name
and i drove 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
i took the train to richmond that fell
it's a time
i remember oh so well

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
na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na

back with my wife in tennessee
and one day she said to me
virgil quick come see
there goes robert e lee
now i don't mind chopping wood
and i don't care if the money's no good
just take what you need and leave the rest
they should have 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
na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na

like my father before me
i'm a workin man
like my brother before me
i took a rebel stand
well he was just eighteen
proud and brave
a yankee laid him in his grave
i swear by the blood 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
na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na

words and music by robbie robertson
as performed by joan baez, mary-chapin carpenter, amy ray, and emily saliers 2017-04-07: barclays center - brooklyn, new york (rock and roll hall of fame induction of joan baez)