The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (1969) w/Lyrics [720p HD] ~ORIGINAL VIDEO~

[Video #27] from http://www.youtube.com/user/MetalGuruMessiah the address for MetalGuruMessiah's Musical Paint Box! Check out my other videos!

The 27th video in my series is a live version of The Band's song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" which was originally released on their 1969 debut album, The Band.

The version in the video is actually from The Last Waltz concert from 1976. I originally worked the video to the original version, but changed to the live one later on and neglected to change the album art in the opening and closing credits to reflect that change (it would be immediately corrected were it not for certain hassles involved with re-uploading).

I like both versions of the song equally well, but the applause in the live version seemed to add another dimension to the images and as a bonus the live version was a bit longer allowing for more images.

This is a song about a confederate soldier named Virgil Caine and his days in the American Civil War. It is a very emotional and haunting narrative and has always been one of my all-time favorites.

In making these videos, sometimes you struggle to find good images to work with and sometimes you struggle to weed through good images.....this song was definitely one of those where images were no problem. There was just so much to work with!

Thought some actual bells ringing would add dramatically to the tune, so I found some that looked good (and more importantly, sounded right!) and added them in. Think they work pretty good, hope you don't mind the liberty with this classic!?

I think the video works well and I hope that maybe some younger people who might not ever listen to the song will get it's message with the images to help them along....and longtime fans can see in in a way they may or may not have played it in their mind when they listened to it.

The song is certainly not meant to be political it's simply a reflection on a historical period of America which was extraordinarily captured by the words and music of The Band.

I hope you enjoy.

[Lyrics]
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

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "La, la, la"

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, there go the 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

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "La, la, la"

Like my father before me, I will work the land
And 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

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, na"

The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, na"

Category:

Education

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[JeDaaRe1]

Amazing video, thanks mate.

[MetalGuruMessiah]

@JeDaaRe1

Much thanks, my friend for checking it and for the comment!

[historyt84]

Great video, great song. Thank you for sharing it.

[MetalGuruMessiah]

@historyt84

Thank you.....happy you enjoyed the effort!

[basehead617]

Nice song, but it's just a fiction. Thank God the south lost. Being on the wrong side of slavery was as wrong as you could be. And without a union, neither the US or the confederacy would be even top 10 players on the world stage today.

[MetalGuruMessiah]

@basehead617

Not sure what exactly you mean by "just a fiction". I agree if you are referring to some of the poetic license in the lyrics...well documented, but if you mean the song in general, well I disagree completely. There is a truth in the song that makes it sound like it was written in 1865....this truth makes it special.

The song is simply the end of the war through one character's eyes...a confederate soldier. The song isn't saying that the South should have won the war.

Thanks!

[sartainja]

Great job. I love that you include the original version of Dixie on your version. The South lost so much in a war that they fought such a notable effort. It is such a moving song.

I have read where Levon Helm has never sang the song in concert since Robbie did not give him any credit for help write it.

[rob61LEE]

@MetalGuruMessiah Amen Brother! Very well done, the best version I've seen.

[j1mmyd33]

I'm sorry if this was asked before, but I'm watching this on an iPhone. What's the rendition of "I Wish I Was in Dixie" you have at the end of the video?

By the way, you made the right choice by using the live version. I haven't heard it in a while and this video has reminded me how much energy it has. Well done!

[timryan80]

Is there a better American Folk Singer than Levon Helm?

[NMM1971]

This is bad ass my friend

[1stSaintsFan]

@0ofreako0 ....Yeah right...There are two different ways to say PECAN. People in different parts of the South pronounced two different ways...Doesn't mean both are wrong...

[0ofreako0]

@1stSaintsFan no real southerner calls it that ok. it's 'the war of northern aggression'.

[cardecoder]

@basehead617 The reason for the war was not at least release the slaves, but the unification of North American countries to facilitate the enslavement of their people. Maybe you do not realize that you are a slave, but if you look at it and more time thinking how you doing and what you have and how people work and what they have at the end of it and how to rob the bank of fraud and brought into the tent ... you can see real reason for the war then and now. Long live Serbia