Virgil Caine is the name and I served 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 tenth, Richmond had fell
It was a time I remember, oh, so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
All the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin' they went
Na, 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 and see there goes Robert E. Lee'
Now I don't mind choppin' wood and I don't care if the money no good
You take what you need and you leave the rest
They should never have taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down
All the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin' they went
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na

Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man
Like my brother before me, who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave
When 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
All them bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin' they went
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na

The night they drove old Dixie down
All them bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singin' they went
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na