Intro [ C {sustain for 2 beats}, D , E , F , G ] Verse 1 Am C/G F F/E Dm Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train Am C/G F F/E Dm 'Til Stoneman's Cavalry came and tore up the tracks a-gain Am/E F C Dm In the Winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive Am/E F C Dm D By May the tenth Richmond had fell, it's a time I re-member, oh, so well Chorus C/G F7M C/G F7M The night they drove Old Dixie down and the bells were ringing C/G F7M C/G F7M The night they drove Old Dixie down and all the people were singing C/G Am G4 F They went, "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la" Lead-in to verse 2 [ C , E , G , C {sustain for six beats}, D , E , F , G ] Verse 2 Am C F F/E Dm Back with my wife in Tennessee when one day she called to me Am C F F/E Dm "Virgil quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee" Am/E F C Dm Now, I don't mind choppin' wood and I don't care if the money's no good Am/E F Ya' take what ya' need and ya' leave the rest C Dm D But they should never have taken the very best Repeat chorus Lead-in to verse 3 [ C , E , G , C ] F , C , [ C , E , G , C {sustain for 6 beats} C , E , F , G ] Verse 3; repeat verse 2 chord progression Like my father before me, I will work the land Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but 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 (Repeat chorus) Lead-in to repeat chorus [ C , E , G , C ] Bm , Bb , Am , Ab(b5), C/G , D/F# (Repeat chorus)