Virgil Caine is my name, and I drove on the Danville train
Till 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, nana, na
Na, na, nana, nanen na, na

Back with my wife in Tennessee, one day she said 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 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, nana, na
Na, na, nana, nanen na, na

Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man
And like my brother before me, I took a Rebel stand
For 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 a Caine back up when it's in defeat