Statues Come Tumblin' Tumblin'

 DRIVIN’ DIXIE DOWN

On Sunday 1/10/20, National Government Radio (NPR) did a lame segment on the Confederate ‘Lost Cause’ and its possible links to current white supremacy  One mainstream historian seemed to be arguing that there was no real continuity between slavery, the destruction of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and present white supremacy – the latter still especially strong in the South.  The liquidation of native Americans, the seizure of land from Mexico and European colonialism went invisible in this segment, as did the overall role of capital and labor exploitation. 

In the process they played originals of the song The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band and also Joan Baez, a somber song about the damage wrought to the South by the North in the Civil War.  Some tried to find some small progressive meaning to the lyrics.   The song was denounced in "Loaded"  by Dunbar-Ortiz as an example of rightist culture.

Here is a new, leftist version of the lyrics.  The tune is certainly great and I love the Band, but …

The Night We Drove Old Dixie Down

“Virgil Lane is the name

And I served on the Nashville train

'Till Forrest's cavalry came

And tore up the tracks again

In the winter of '65

The Rebs were hungry, just barely alive

By May the 10th, Richmond had fell

It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night we drove old Dixie down

And the bells were ringing

The night we drove old Dixie down

And the people were singing

They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

Back with my wife in Ohio

One day she called to me

"Virgil, quick, come see,

There goes Grant, not Bobby Lee!"

Now, I don't mind chopping wood

And I don't care if the money's no good

You take what you need

And you leave the rest

But the Rebs should never

Have taken the very best

The night we drove old Dixie down

And the bells were ringing

The night we drove old Dixie down

And all the people were singing

They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

Like my father before me

I will work the land

And like my brother above me

Who took a Union stand

He was just 18, proud and brave

But a Reb laid him in his grave

I swear by the mud below my feet

You can't raise a Lane back up

When he's in defeat

The night we drove old Dixie down

And the bells were ringing

The night we drove old Dixie down

And all the Freedmen were singing

They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

The night we drove old Dixie down

And all the bells were ringing

The night we drove old Dixie down

And the North was singing

They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

At this late point in the Civil War, Nashville was controlled by the Union and served as a rail hub for supplies going east and south.  Minnesota regiments had won the battle of Nashville in December 1864 by turning the Confederate left on a high hill. The Minnesota state flag still flies over this battlefield.  Forrest was a brutal Confederate cavalryman operating in the western and central theaters.  A former slave trader, he founded the KKK and carried out the Fort Pillow massacre of captured black soldiers and their white officers.  Hard core scum.

Originally written by Robbie Robertson, The Band’s Canadian lead guitarist; sung by Levon Helm, from Alabama, The Band’s drummer.  From The Band’s concert The Last Waltz.

Prior Blog reviews on the Civil War, use blog search box, upper left:  "Civil War."

The Cranky Yankee

January 14, 2021