Intro [ C5 {sustain for 2 beats}, D5 , E5 , F5 , G5 ] Verse 1 A5 C5 F5 F5 D5 Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train A5 C5 F5 F5 D5 'Til Stoneman's Cavalry came and tore up the tracks a-gain A5 F5 C5 D5 In the Winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive A5 F5 C5 D5 D5 By May the tenth Richmond had fell, it's a time I re-member, oh, so well Chorus C5 F5 C5 F5 The night they drove Old Dixie down and the bells were ringing C5 F5 C5 F5 The night they drove Old Dixie down and all the people were singing C5 A5 G5 F5 They went, "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la" Lead-in to verse 2 [ C5 , E5 , G5 , C5 {sustain for six beats}, D5 , E5 , F5 , G5 ] Verse 2 A5 C5 F5 F5 D5 Back with my wife in Tennessee when one day she called to me A5 C5 F5 F5 D5 "Virgil quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee" A5 F5 C5 D5 Now, I don't mind choppin' wood and I don't care if the money's no good A5 F5 Ya' take what ya' need and ya' leave the rest C5 D5 D5 But they should never have taken the very best Repeat chorus Lead-in to verse 3 [ C5 , E5 , G5 , C5 ] F5 , C5 , [ C5 , E5 , G5 , C5 {sustain for 6 beats} C5 , E5 , F5 , G5 ] 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 [ C5 , E5 , G5 , C5 ] B5 , Bb5 , A5 , Ab(b5), C5 , D5 (Repeat chorus)