September 10th, 2026
#20 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Joan Baez) 👍🏼
Virgil Caine is my name and I drove on the Danville train
‘Til so much cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of ’65, we were hungry, just barely alive
I took the train to Richmond that fell
It was a time I remember, oh so well
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringin’
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-na”
Back with my wife in Tennessee and one day she said to me
“Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee”
Now, I don’t mind, I’m chopping wood
And I don’t care if the money’s no good
Just 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 ringin’
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-na”
Like my father before me, I’m a workin’ man
And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand
Well, 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 the Cain back up when it’s in defeat
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringin’
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-na”
My Distilled Life 