Episode IV: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

by J.R.Robertson.
© 1970 Canaan Music, Inc.
Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,
(Chorus)
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'. They went
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,
Back with my wife in Tennessee, When one day she called to me,
Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.
(Chorus)
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.
(Chorus and fade

1. A life on the Vicksburg bluff,
a home in the trenches deep,
where we dodge "Yank" shells enough,
and our old "pea bread" won't keep.
On "old Logan's" beef I pine,
for there's fat on his bones no more;
Oh! give me some pork and brine,
and truck from a suttler's store.

chorus:
A life on the Vicksburg bluff,
a home in the trenches deep,
where we dodge "Yank" shells enough,
and our old "pea bread" won't keep,
pea bread, pea bread,
our old pea bread won't keep,
pea bread, pea bread,
our old pea bread won't keep.

2. Old Grant is starving us out,
our grub is fast wasting away,
Pemb' don't know what he's about
and hasn't for many a day.
So we'll bury "old Logan" tonight,
from tough beef we'll be set free;
we'll put him far out of sight,
no more of his meat for me!

chotus

3. Texas steers are no longer in veiw,
mule steaks are now "done up brown",
while pea bread, mule roast and mule stew,
are our fare in Vicksburg town:
and the song of our hearst shall be,
while the "Yanks" and their gunboats rave;
a life in the bomb-proof for me,
and a tear on "old Logan"'s grave.

chorus

Here's an interesting one, edgar:

Toast to Virginia

Melody - "Red, white and blue"


A toast to Virginia, God bless her!
The mother of heroes and States!
Confusion to him who'd oppress her,
And death to the tyrant that hates!
May honor and glory attend her,
And victory come when she calls
Till every armed foe shall surrender,
And peace reign again in her halls! 2. And here's to George Washington!--standing;
Though cold at Mount Vernon his clay,
His Spirit, her armies commanding,
Still lives in Virginia to-day;
'Tis the breath of the brave Old Dominion;
The soul that will never depart;
It breathes in each noble Virginian,
And burns in each true Southern heart!
3. Then, brothers fill high with emotion!
Our days may be many or few;
Still pledge we a life-long devotion
To principles honest and true!
What-ever our fortunes may be men,
This toast let us cherish each one:
To Virginia, the mother of freemen;
And Washington, Liberty's son!

And here are the lyrics to The Red, White, and Blue, original melody:


Columbia, Gem of the Ocean
Composed by T. Becket & D. Shaw (c.1843)

O Columbia, the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty's form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue!
When borne by the red, white, and blue!
When borne by the red, white, and blue!
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,
When borne by the red, white, and blue!

When war winged its wide desolations,
And threatened the land to deform,
The ark then of freedom's foundation,
Columbia, rode safe through the storm;
With the garlands of vict'ry about her,
When so proudly she bore her brave crew,
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white, and blue!
The boast of the red, white, and blue!
The boast of the red, white, and blue!
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the red, white, and blue!

The star-spangled banner bring hither,
O'er Columbia's true sons let it wave;
May the wreaths they have won never wither,
Nor its stars cease to shine on the brave;
May the service united ne'er sever,
But hold to their colors so true;
The army and navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!
The army and navy forever,
Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!

i'm not sure i'm playing this game correctly, but here's my favourite song about the south

Crazy In Alabama
Kate Campbell

I heard Odessa's mind was sick
That she was crazier than hell
The police caught her turning tricks
Down at the Blue and Gray motel
Odessa was the neighbor's maid
She had ten mouths at home to feed

They bussed her kids to Birmingham
And put her in the county jail
Nobody seemed to give a damn
They say a white man posted bail
My dad said not to breathe a word
I told my brother all I heard

And the train of change
Was coming fast to my hometown
We had the choice to climb on board
Or get run down

It was crazy there were grown men fights
Over segregation and civil rights
Martin Luther King and the KKK
George C. Wallace and LBJ
And when the National Guard came in
I thought the world was gonna end
It was crazy in Alabama

Down at the corner Dairy Dip
They sold soft ice cream for a dime
White people ordered from the front
The side was for the colored line
We all were told they had their place
Because they were a different race

We spent hot summer afternoons
At the public swimming pool
Where the privileged and the few
Played on their island of cool blue
Brown children watched outside the fence
It never made one lick of sense

But the train of change
Was coming fast to my hometown
We had the choice to climb on board
Or get run down

It was crazy there were grown men fights
Over segregation and civil rights
Martin Luther King and the KKK
George C. Wallace and LBJ
And when the National Guard came in
I thought the world was gonna end
It was crazy in Alabama

My momma yelled child get inside
Drew the drapes and locked the doors
We watched the marchers passing by
Felt the rumble heard the roar
They all held hands they sang and wept
And freedom rang in every step

Cause the train of change
Was marching through my hometown
We had the choice to climb on board
Or get run down

It was crazy there were grown men fights
Over segregation and civil rights
Martin Luther King and the KKK
George C. Wallace and LBJ
And when the National Guard came in
I thought the world was gonna end
It was crazy in Alabama

There are no hard and fast rules here, djjd.

The Battle of New Orleans Lyrics

(Jimmie Driftwood)

In eighteen-fourteen we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississipp'
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we met the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'
There wasn't night as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come
And there must've been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drums
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
While we stood beside the cotton bails and didn't say a thing.

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'
There wasn't night as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

--- Instrumental ---

Old Hickory said we'd take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets till we looked 'em in the eyes
We held our fire till we see'd their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns and really gave 'em hell.

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, we fired our cannon till the barrel melted down
Then we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
We filled his head with cannonballs and powdered his behind
And when we shot the powder off the gator lost his mind.

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'
There wasn't night as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'
There wasn't night as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I still recall the first time I heard this.
Rideau Public School.
Combination of History and Art Class in Grade 6.
1967?

The original lyrics to Battle of New Orleans had more words than that. One line goes

Old Hick'ry said he didn't give a damn
He would whip the britches off of Colonel Packingham.

This couldn't be coincidence:


This article is about the American Civil War song. For information about the hockey team, see Toronto Aura Lee.
"Aura Lee" (also known as "Aura Lea") is an American Civil War song about a maiden. It was written by W. W. Fosdick (words) and George R. Poulton (music).

The Elvis Presley song "Love Me Tender" (lyric by Ken Darby) is sung to the same tune as "Aura Lee".



As the blackbird in the spring,
On the willow tree,
Sat and rocked, I heard him sing,
Sing of Aura Lea
Aura Lea, Aura Lea,
Maid of golden hair;
Sunshine came along with thee,
And swallows in the air.
In thy blush the rose was born,
Music when you spake,
Through thine azure eye the morn,
Sparkling seemed to break.
Aura Lea, Aura Lea,
Bird of crimson wing,
Never song have sung to me,
In that sweet spring.
Aura Lea! The bird may flee,
The willows golden hair
Swing through winter fitfully,
On the stormy air.
Yet if thy blue eyes I see,
Gloom will soon depart;
For to me, sweet Aura Lea
Is sunshine through the heart.
When the mistletoe was green,
Midst the winter's snows,
Sunshine in thy face was seen,
Kissing lips of rose.
Aura Lea, Aura Lea,
Take my golden ring;
Love and light return with thee,
And swallows with the spring.

pffft

I couldn't edit my post

so here's what I was trying to add while you whipper-snappers were in there

:wink:

a variant with history and midi here ... click

Yeh, ebeth. I alwyas liked that version better.

Dixieland Delight


Rollin down a backwoods tennessee byway, one arm on the wheel, holdin my
Lover with the other: a sweet, soft, southern thrill.
Worked hard all week; got a little jingle on a tennessee saturday night.
Couldnt feel better: Im together with my dixieland delight.

Chorus:
Spend my dollar; parked in a holler neath the mountain moonlight; hold her
Uptight; make a little lovin, a little turtle dovin on a mason dixon night.
Fits my life, oh, so right: my dixieland delight.

Whitetail buck deer munchin on clover, redtail hawk settin on a limb, a
Chubby old groundhog, croakin bullfrog, free as the feelin in the wind.
Home grown country girl gonna give me a whirl on a tennessee saturday night.
Lucky as a seven livin in heaven with my dixieland delight.

Shel Silverstein

CIVIL WAR SONG

One brother wore blue,
One brother wore gray,
One brother went,
One brother stayed,
One brother's here,
One brother's there,
Oh, where shall I fight,
Oh, what shall I wear?

I'm gonna wear my tight blue pants
And my gray sport jacket
And stay at home with the girls.
Now, now, now,
I don't want to get to Gettysburg,
No, no, no, no,
I got a protest sign
And a bottle of wine
And my baby and I are gonna
Go, go, go, go.
Now, Grant and Lee
Don't mean nothin' to me
And fightin's nothin' but a bore.
I'll wear my tight blue pants
And my gray sport jacket
And to hell with the Civil War.

The Dying Words
Of Stonewall Jackson
by Sidney Lanier

"Order A.P. Hill to prepare for battle."
"Tell Major Hawks to advance the commissary train."
"Let us cross the river and rest in the shade."


The stars of Night contain the glittering Day
And rain his glory down with sweeter grace
Upon the dark World's grand, enchanted face
All loath to turn away.


And so the Day, about to yield his breath,
Utters the stars unto the listening Night,
To stand for burning fare-thee-wells of light
Said on the verge of death.


O hero-life that lit us like the sun!
O hero-words that glittered like the stars
And stood and shone above the gloomy wars
When the hero-life was done!


The phantoms of a battle came to dwell
I' the fitful vision of his dying eyes
Yet even in battle-dreams, he sends supplies
To those he loved so well.


His army stands in battle line arrayed:
His couriers fly: all's done: now God decide!
And not till then saw he the Other Side
Or would accept the shade.


Thou land whose sun is gone, thy stars remain!
Still shine the words that miniature his deeds.
O thrice-beloved, where'er thy great heart bleeds,
Solace hast thou for pain!

THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

There's a yellow rose in Texas
That I am going to see.
No other soldier knows her --
No soldier, only me.
She cried so when I left her,
It like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her,
We never more shall part.

CHORUS:
She's the sweetest rose of color
This soldier ever knew.
Her eyes are bright as diamonds,
They sparkle like the dew.
You may talk about your dearest May
And sing of Rosa Lee,
But the Yellow Rose of Texas
Beats the belles of Tennessee.

Where the Rio Grande is flowing
And the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river
In the quiet summer night.
She thinks, if I remember,
When we parted long ago,
I promised to come back again
And not to leave her so.--CHORUS

Oh, now I'm going to find her,
For my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the song together
That we sang so long ago.
We'll play the banjo gaily,
And we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the Yellow Rose of Texas
Shall be mine forever more.--CHORUS

Oh, now I'm headed southward,
For my heart is full of woe.
I'm going back to Georgia
To find my Uncle Joe.
You may talk about your Beauregard
And sing of Bobby Lee,
But the gallant Hood of Texas,
He played hell in Tennessee!--CHORUS

We Are Coming, Father Abr'am
Words by James Gibbons
Music by L. Emerson

We are coming, Father Abr'am,
Three hundred thousand more,
From Mississippi's winding stream
And from New England's shore;
We leave our plows and workshops,
Our wives and children dear,
With hearts too full for utterance,
With but a silent tear,
We dare not look behind us,
But steadfastly before,
We are coming Father Abr'am,
Three hundred thousand more!

Chorus

We are coming, we are coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming Father Abr'am, with three hundred thousand more,
We are coming Father Abr'am, with three hundred thousand more,

If you look across the hilltops
That meet the Northern sky,
Long moving lines of rising dust
Your vision may descry;
And now the wind, an instant,
Tears the cloudy veil aside,
And floats aloft our spangled flag
In glory and in pride;
And bayonets in the sunlight gleam,
And bands brave music pour.
We are coming, Father Abr'am,
Three hundred thousand more!

Chorus

If you look all up our valleys
Where the growing harvests shine,
You may see our sturdy farmer boys
Fast forming into line;
And children from their mother's knees
Are pulling at the weeds,
And learning how to reap and sow
Against their country's needs;
And a farewell group stands weeping
At every cottage door.
We are coming, Father Abr'am,
Three hundred thousand more!

Chorus

You have called us and we're coming,
By Richmond's bloody tide,
To lay us down for Freedom's sake,
Our brothers' bones beside;
Or from foul treason's savage group,
To wrench the murderous blade;
And in the face of foreign foes
Its fragments to parade;
Six hundred thousand loyal men
And true have gone before.
We are coming Father Abr'am,
Three hundred thousand more!

Rebels
Tom Petty

Honey don't walk out I'm too drunk to follow
You know you won't feel this way tomorrow
Well, maybe I'm a little rough around the edges
Inside a little hollow
I get faced with some things sometimes
That are so hard to swallow
Hey hey hey!

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Well she picked me up in the morning
And she paid all my tickets
Yeah she screamed in the car
And threw me out in th e thicket
Well I never would've dreamed
That her heart was so wicked
Oh but I keep coming back
Cause it's so hard to kick it

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And on e foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Even before my father's fathers
They called us all rebels
Burned our cornfields
And left our cities leveled
I can still see the eyes
Of those blue bellied devils
When I'm walking round tonight
Through the concrete and metal

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Southern Accents
Tom Petty

There's a southern accent, where I come from
The young'uns call it country
The yankees call it dumb
I got my own way of talkin'
But everything is done, with a southern accent
Where I come from

Now that drunk tank in Atlanta's
Just a motel room to me
Think I might go work Orlando
If them orange groves don't freeze
I got my own way of workin'
But everything is run, with a southern accent
Where I come from

For just a minute there I was dreaming
For just a minute it was all so real
For just a minute she was standing there, with me

There's a dream I keep having
Where my mama comes to me
And kneels down over by the window
And says a prayer for me
I got my own way of prayin'
But everyone's begun
With a sou thern accent
Where I come from

I got my own way of livin'
But everything gets done
With a southern accent
Where I come from

My mon sang this to me, and it's one of the few times that I saw her cry. It scared me. Everything scared me as a child, I guess:

There's a lone green valley by the old Kentucky shore

Where we've whil'd many happy hours away;

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door

Where dwelt my lovely Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I am sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day,

For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore.




When the moon had climb'd the mountain & the stars were shining too

Then I took my lovely Nelly Gray,

And I travell'd down the river in my little red canoe

While the banjo sweetly I did play.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I am sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day,

For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore.




Oh! my eyes are getting blinded and I cannot see my way;

Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.

I hear the angels calling and I see my Nelly Gray,

Farewell to my old Kentucky shore.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I am sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day,

For you're gone from the old Kentucky shore.