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
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"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)