The Band (lead vocal by Levon Helm) sings 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. Often in lists of the best rock songs of all time, this song written by Robbie Robertson of the Band is a remarkable song painting an authentic and detailed picture of life on the homefront for a poor Southerner in the dire last year of the Civil War. This video uses images photographed during the Civil War to portray the words of the song as accurately as possible. The trains shown are Southern trains and the city ruins are of "Richmond had fell." "There goes Robert E. Lee" shows a 1866 picture of Lee on Traveller. The lines "You take what you need and you leave the rest / But they should never have taken the very best" show army wagons taking goods from the citizens to supply the troops, though I believe both pictures are of Union and not Confederate wagons. The song was a single and on the 1969 Capitol album 'The Band'. The lyrics are listed below along with some notes on the song.

[CD/23-Images]

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Singers - The Band

Virgil Caine 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 was a time I remember oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na la la ..."

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

Like my father before me
I will work the land
And like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand

He was just eighteen, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat

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

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

Songwriter: Robbie Robertson
© Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
[Lyrics from LyricFind]

Wikipedia states:

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian roots rock group the Band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. Levon Helm provided the lead vocals. The song is a first-person narrative relating the economic and social distress experienced by the protagonist, a poor white Southerner, during the last year of the American Civil War, when George Stoneman was raiding southwest Virginia. Frequently appearing on lists of the best rock songs of all time, it has been cited as an early example of the genre known as roots rock. Joan Baez recorded a version of the song that became a top-five chart hit in late 1971.

The song was written by Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes to the 2000 reissue of the Band's second album, The Band, it has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on peoples, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War, portraying the suffering of the protagonist, a poor white Southerner.

Robertson stated that he had the music to the song in his head but at first had no idea what it was to be about. Then the concept came to him and he did research on the subject. Levon Helm, a native of Arkansas, stated that he assisted in the research for the lyrics. In his 1993 autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire, Helm wrote, "Robbie and I worked on 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' up in Woodstock. I remember taking him to the library so he could research the history and geography of the era and make General Robert E. Lee come out with all due respect."

Dixie is the historical nickname for the states making up the Confederate States of America. The first lines of the lyrics refer to one of George Stoneman's raids behind Confederate lines attacking the railroads of Danville, Virginia at the end of the Civil War in 1865: "Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train / Till Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again..."

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