Virgil Caine is my name, and I served on the Danville train
Stoneman's cavalry came, burned up the tracks again
Was the winter of '65, we were lonely and barely alive
By May Richmond had fell, it was a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringin'
It was the night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin'
They sang la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Back with my wife in Tennessee, one day she says to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, here comes Robert E. Lee"
Yeah let him go, let him down, money's no good
Ya take what ya need, 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 ringin'
It was the night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin'
They sang la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Like my father before me, I'm a peaceful man
Like my brother before me, you know I took a rebel stand
18 and 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

Yeah the night they drove old Dixie down, and the bells were ringin'
It was the night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin'
They sang la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the bells were ringin'
It was the night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin'
They sang la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la