THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN^©

Live 01 Sep 1971 version

Virgil Caine is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Til stoneman's cavalry came
And tore up the tracks again

Was In the winter of sixty-five
We were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'!
They went, "La, la-la-la-la-la,
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la."

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

Now, I don't mind choppin' wood
And I don't care if my money's no good
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 ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'!
They went, "La, la-la-la-la-la,
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la."

Like my father before me
I will work the land
Like my brother before me
I took a rebel stand

Just 18, so proud and brave
When a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Cain back up when he's in defeat

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'!
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'!
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringin'
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singin'!
They went, "La, la-la-la-la-la,
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la.
La, la-la-la-la-la,
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la.
La, la-la-la-la-la,
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la."

Page last updated: 12 Apr 2008

Written by Robbie Robertson, THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN is from The Band's 1969 album, The Band. Check out The Band's original version for more details.

As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen covered THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN only once, on 01 Sep 1971. This was during a Bruce Springsteen Band show at Garfield Park, Long Branch, NJ. The above lyrics are for that performance.

The 01 Sep 1971 show was a triple bill, with the 5-member Bruce Springsteen Band headlining (Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, David Sancious, and Vini Lopez). The support acts were opening acoustic trio Nash, Large & Ross and Sunny Jim. This was an outdoor afternoon show orchestrated by Tinker West's Blah Productions.

A 10-song/66-minute audience recording of this show was in very limited circulation until April 2008 when Brucetape.com unofficially released a remastered version  to collectors. Unfortunately, the recording's sound quality is weak (but not horrible) due to the the cheap recording device used by the taper. This Bruce Springsteen Band performance apparently lasted nearly two hours, so there's quite a bit missing on the audio source, and discernable edits can be heard in between songs.

Thanks Chris at born2run.de for the lyrics. Some of the above info are taken from Brucebase.