A
When Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy Jefferson Davis was upset about it
He said how dare that man resent an order
From the president of the Confederate States of America
And then somebody told him that General Lee had made the decision himself
In order to save lives because he felt that the battle comin' up
Would cost about twenty thousand lives on both sides
And he said two hundred and forty thousand dead already is enough
So this song is not about the North or the South but about the bloody brother war
Brother against brother father against son the war that nobody won
And for all those lives that were saved I gotta say God bless Robert E. Lee


[Verse 1]
         A                         A7      D               A
Well the mansion where the General used to live is burning down
A                                     E
Cotton fields are blue with Sherman's troupes
  A           A7         D                   A
I overheard a Yankee say yesterday Nashville fell
       A                                   E                 A
So I'm on my way to join the fight General Lee might need my help


[Chorus]
          A             A7
But look away look away Dixie
D
I don't want them to see
             D           A
What they're doing to my Dixie
E                   A
God bless Robert E. Lee


[Verse 2]
A                          A7            D                  A
Sherman's troupes burned Atlanta and the flames lit up the sky
    A                                                 E
And those of us who survived it are watchin' my Dixie die
      A                 D               A
But today at Appamattox General Lee sat down
      A                          E          A
And surrender to the Yankees and Ulysees S. Grant


[Chorus]
          A             A7
But look away look away Dixie
D
I don't want them to see
             D           A
What they're doing to my Dixie
E                   A
God bless Robert E. Lee


[Outro]
        A                       A7              D             A
I won't ever stop loving you my Dixie till they put me in the ground
        A                                         E                   A
And the last words they probably hear from me are God bless Robert E. Lee