Virgil Caine is my name, and I served on the Danville train
'Til Stoneman's Calvery 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 ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin'
They went na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me
"Virgil, quick come see, there goes Robert E. Lee"
Well I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
They never should have taken the very best

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

Like my father before me, I will work the land
Like my brother above me, I took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave,
'Til a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud beneath my feet
You can't raise a Caine when he's in defeat

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

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

Copyright: Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer(s): Robbie Robertson