The night they drove old Dixie down - by The Band

The night they drove old Dixie down Virgil Kane is the name and I served on the Danville train 'till Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again In the winter of '65 we were hungry, just barely alive By May the 10th, 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" Back with my wife in Tennessee when one day she called to me "Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!" Now, I don't mind choppin’ wood and I don't care if the money's no good Take what you need and you leave the rest But they should never 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" Like my father before me I will work the land And like my brother above me who took a rebel stand He was just 18, proud and brave when a Yankee laid him in his grave I swear by the mud below my feet you can't raise a Kane back up 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"