Virgil Caine is my name and I drove on the Danville train 'Til 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 all the bells were ringing, The night they drove old Dixie down And all the people were singing They went, "Na,na,na.na, Na na na 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 I'm choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good. You take what you need and 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,na na 'Na,na,na.na na na na na na..'
Like my father before me, I will work the land, And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand. He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave. I swear by the blood below my feet You can't raise a Caine 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, na na ... "
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, na na ..."