The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
By Robbie Robertson
(As performed by Joan Baez)
capo 1st fret
C Am C F Am
Virgil Caine is my name, and I drove on the Danville train,
C Am F Am
'Til Stoneman's Calvery came and tore up the tracks again.
F C Am F
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
Am F C Am D
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,
(Chorus)
C Am F C Am F
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
C Am F C Am F
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'. They went
C Am D F C
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,
Am C F Am
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she said to me,
C Am F Am
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes a Robert E. Lee!"
F C A m F
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.
Am F
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
C Am D
But they should never have taken the very best.
(Chorus)
Am C F Am
Like my father before me, I will work the land,
C Am F Am
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
F C Am F
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave,
Am F
I swear by the mud below my feet,
C Am D
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.
(Chorus and fade)