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, when Richmond had fell It’s a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all people were singing
They went, “Na, na, la, na, na, la” Na, na, na, na, na,

Back with my wife in Tennessee When one day she called to me Said “Virgil, quick, come see, There goes Robert E. Lee!”

Now, I don’t mind chopping wood And I don’t care if my money’s no good You 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 all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, “Na, na, la, na, na, la” 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 with stand

He was just 18, proud and brave But a Yankee laid him in his grave And 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 all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, “Na, na, la, na, na, la” Na, na, na, na, na,

The night they drove old Dixie down
When all the bells are ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
When all the people were singing
They went, “Na, na, la, na, na, la” Na, na, na, na, na,