virgil cain is my 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 i took the train to richmond had fell it was a time i remember oh so well the night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing the night they drove old dixie down and all the people were singing they went la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la back with my wife in tennessee one day she came to me virgil look come see there goes robert e lee well i don t mind chopping wood and i don t care if the money s no good but you take what you need and leave the rest and they should never have taken the very best the night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing the night they drove old dixie down and all the people were singing they went la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la like my father before me i am a working man and like my brother above me i took a rebel stand he was just eighteen proud and brave but a yankee laid him in his grave i swear by the blood beneath my feet you can t raise the cane back up when it s in defeat the night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing the night they drove old dixie down and all the people were singing  the night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing the night they drove old dixie down and all the people were singing the night they drove old dixie down and all the bells were ringing the night they drove old dixie down and all the people were singing la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la 