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)