Joan Baez The Night They Drove Old Dixie 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, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh, so well

The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down and the people were singin'
They went la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee"
Now, I don't mind 'em choppin' wood and I don't care if the 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 ringing

The night they drove old Dixie down and the people were singin'
They went la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man
Like my brother above me, I 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

The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down and the people were singin'
They went la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la