The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Lyrics to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

From elyrics.com

Well, I thought I knew the words very well listening to Helm sing it, but evidently, I didn't know some of them or he changed it some singing in concert.

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, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well.

CHORUS
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "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 chopping wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need and you leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best.

CHORUS

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
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.

CHORUS

CHORUS

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