Album: The Band

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down


C Am C/G F F/E Dm
Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,

Am C/G F F/E Dm
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.

Am/E F C Dm
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.

Am/E F C Dm D
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,


(Chorus)

C/G Fmaj7 C/G Fmaj7
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,

C/G Fmaj7 C/G Fmaj7
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'. They went

C/G Am Gsus4 F C
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,


Am C F F/E Dm
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,

Am C F F/E Dm
";Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!";

Am/E F C Dm
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.

Am/E F
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,

C Dm D
But they should never have taken the very best. (Chorus)


Am C F F/E Dm
Like my father before me, I will work the land,

Am C F F/E Dm
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.

Am/E F C Dm
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, But a Yankee laid him in his grave,

Am/E F
I swear by the mud below my feet,

C Dm D
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.