Even a casual reading of Civil War literature will show the overwhelming importance of family, kin (Next of Kin! [5]. “He would say Robert E. Lee was a military genius, say that he didn’t own slaves — even though he did! The song also was included in the Band's Thanksgiving Day concert in 1976 which was the subject of Martin Scorsese's documentary film The Last Waltz. Guenevere because there was, like, 'The baby's sleeping!' Yes, it's "Growth of The American Republic" Volume 1. In fact, the "raising Caine" image strikes me as being a clumsy piece of word play and a bad pun. This revised article comes three years and much discussion after the original article. The song appeared at number 245 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. I have expanded some points, and added some of the comments from The Band In the first verse, where Helm sang that the fall of the Confederacy was “a time I remember oh so well,” James declared it “a time to bid farewell.” In the chorus, instead of mourning that downfall, he sang, “Tonight, we drive old Dixie down.” His most thorough and powerful revision came in the song’s final verse: Unlike my father before me, who I will never understandUnlike the others below me, who took a rebel standDepraved and powered to enslaveI think it’s time we laid hate in its graveI swear by the mud below my feetThat monument won’t stand, no matter how much concrete, James had stayed up until 5 a.m. the morning of the show, rewriting Robertson’s lyrics with help from his girlfriend, costume designer Cammie Windley. Chet Flippo From the perspective afforded by this new conversation, it’s notable that neither “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” itself nor Marcus’s mid-1970s appreciation of it as classic Americana mentions race or slavery. Napalm in Vietnam. I have to say that the lyric is "I swear by the mud below my feet". and LBJ, the assassination of Kennedy in Dallas, the murder of Martin Luther King, fiery Ku Klux Klan crosses. Words change in meaning, and the process is normally that they become weaker: "naughty" for Shakespeare meant deeply evil. I vote "mud", with all due respect to the worthy arguments in favor of "blood"-- including the fact that it wouldn't surprise or bother me if Levon actually sung "blood" in concert if it suited him. Modern nations are and always have been built upon their narratives of origin and development, and in this case, of destruction and rebirth. A monthly update on our latest interviews, stories and added songs. Those five weeks from the collapse of Richmond, the capital, to the final capture of Jefferson Davis on May 10th and the official surrender, must have been the worst, total chaos. 'In The Studio' 1988. Although it has long been believed that the reason for Helm's refusal to play the song was a dispute with Robertson over songwriting credits; according to Garth Hudson, the refusal was due to Helm's dislike for Joan Baez's version. The surrender was signed by Lee seven days later. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the origin lies in banknotes issued by the Citizens Bank of New Orleans prior to 1860. Bones (posted after the one below) From the day Richmond had fell (Confederates abandoned the town on April 2 and Federals occupied it on the 3rd) up until May 10, the various organized Confederate forces continued to surrender. This word is neither in the official sheet music nor in the original studio version by The Band. Their orders were not to fight battles but to punish and demoralize the Southern civilians. Mike (mw1611) Would a Southerner have called it "a rebel stand" (or himself a "rebel")? It was an unjust death. And to have it all in just three and a half minutes, the sense of dignity and place and tradition, all those things Well, the next day after I'd recovered, I went to Robbie and asked him, "How did that come out of you?" The fact that (Dixie) was written by a Canadian - Robbie - is all the more telling. In a tour-de-force vocal, Arkansan Levon Helm sings about the "Winter of 65" from the perspective of the vanquished. The Band performed Randy Newman's song about Huey Long, 'Kingfish' in 1990s concerts. The verse opens with glimpses of military devastation and the visitation of multiple ruination: the tracks torn up AGAIN, the hard winter of starvation and mortal weariness. The dirt farmers in West Tennessee were too far away to identify with the federal government and slavery was part of the local economy. If they had, they would’ve hated it! You never got this subtlety in the concert versions.The Rock of Ages version is embellishment, and when you've already got Garth Hudson on board, you don't need any other embellishment, however beautifully it's done - and the horns prologue is great stuff. The Danville line was the last open railroad line that connected Richmond with the rest of the south. Lee personally disbelieved in both slavery and secession from the Union, but felt that his people and his honour came above his personal opinions. The lyric sheet on The Band's Internet site has 'By May the 10th Richmond had fell'. They said it'd come out fast and hard and clean. Mike Carrico Helm refused to play the song afterwards. His political shenanigans were observed by the band during their first tour of Australia. function callPin(permalink) { He's happy to mention it on his drums tuition video, though says very little on the Classic Albums video, just: Levon Helm Want more Rolling Stone? Don't make any noise.' This was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr.'s house in Los Angeles. No one in their right mind would blame Robertson for any mistakes - he's an R&R writer, not a historian Such factual mistakes hardly diminish the power of the song. I guess the mud or blood issue is still in question. The word "rebel" (as in Johnny Reb) sounds (a) Northern (b) slightly perjorative. I just had my mind blown while listening to what before, seemed to be a sort of 'sing-song' filler chorus, (probably because of Joan Baez's version) "The night they drove old Dixie Down and the people were singing".... in those words, I'm (finally) now hearing an account of the heartbroken Caine, in a moment of personal defeat, agonizing over trying to banish from his mind, or come to terms with, the unbearable memories of being there and watching while half of the country was reveling in the devastation of his family and his way of life... Robbie is sensitive to Levon's charge, denying that he was writing it directly "at" Levon, but nevertheless it ceased to get done on stage by Levon or by The Band. Copyright © Peter Viney 2000. The song has something to say about Reconstruction too: Now I don't mind chopping wood [1] Robertson said he had the music to the song in his head and would play the chords over and over on the piano but had no idea what the song was to be about. 'Til STONEMAN'S cavalry came and tore up the tracks again" referring to George Stoneman, who was a general in the Union army). In many interviews, Robbie has discussed the profound effect the South has had on him. But probably Robbie had too much to say about it in various interviews, which got Levon's bristles up. As to "the night" I'd say it was a double strike - the night was the night of the surrender, but it also utilises the image of night death for the Confederacy. Go back and listen to the original version, at the way a harmonica seems to sit eerily behind the vocals (actually it was Garth dubbing a Hohner Melodica on top of the sound generated by the 'accordion' stop on a Lowrey organ), listen for the little touch of distant trumpet at the end (Garth again). [18], Virgil, quick, come see! Lee never went to Tennessee after the war. It was written on piano. It is hard for me to comprehend how any Northerner, raised on a very different war than Virgil Kane’s, could listen to this song without finding himself changed. Pat Brennan It might be argued that this is rightly so with national epics—they should or can never be utterly deromanticized. Even though I'm also relatively fussy about lyrics, and find fast, loose, and sloppy phrases or even "facts" distasteful, I don't find "May 10" terribly disturbing. The British ruling class identified with "Southern aristocrats". Robbie and I worked on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" up in Woodstock. I'll give Pat the last word: Pat Brennan window.location=permalink+"?pintix=1"; This was somewhat odd, as the British Empire had banned slavery thirty years earlier, and in industrial districts workers identified with the Northern cause. As with most soldiers, the average southern soldier had little to gain from fighting the war. Kyle MacLachlan Joins — and Wins — Fleetwood Mac ‘Dreams’ Challenge, Here’s Where Things Stand in the 5 States That Will Pick the President, Lil Pump Joins Trump Onstage After Being Introduced as ‘Little Pimp’, Eddie Vedder Discusses ‘Dark’ Times After Chris Cornell’s Death With Howard Stern, Tracy Chapman Makes Rare TV Appearance With Performance of ‘Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution’, The Best Albums of October 2020: Ariana Grande, Bruce Springsteen, and More, Raekwon Breaks Down His 10 Favorite Albums of All Time. The ten dollar bill had the French "dix" on the reverse, and became known as dixies. Straight into the chorus of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down to a collage of B&W photos, starting out with Robbie and Levon in chairs, smiling at each other. I used to hear - 'A main attempt - Richmond - it fell'. The Last Waltz of The Band Neil Minturn - 2005- Page 85 "be more familiar to some in Joan Baez's version. I think it's time we laid hate in its grave."[13]. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” established Robertson as a formidable songwriter, and Helm went on to become a beloved Americana figure. Early James, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, The Band. Note: Commentators vary on their preference for Caine/ Cain/ Cane/ Kane. Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler got the idea for "Money For Nothing" after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. Usually the publisher sent a young music graduate off with a pen, manuscript paper and the record. For example the children were yelling so loudly they could have raised the dead/raised Caine. Even worse, 'Stoneman's cavalry' became 'so much cavalry'. The way the chorus goes down is a lament, then there's that little lift of defiance at the end before the final flat, dead double thump on the drums. The song is not related to his heritage, as Robertson is half-Mohawk Indian, half-Jewish Canadian. I would argue that "blood" makes perfect sense, especially given the line that comes before: "when aYankee laid [my brother] in his grave" -- "blood" then echoes the imagery of countless numbers of the singer's kin and ancestors lying below his feet (in their graves) the singer is swearing by not just what those people died for in the Civil War, but by what all of what his people had lived and died for throughout their history. I think that'd be too clever for a song trying to communicate raw emotion. Sleevenotes to "Anthology 1" by Robert Palmer, 1978, Clement Eaton, 'The Freedom of Thought Struiggle in the Old South' (Duke University, 1940, 1964), Levon Helm & Stephen Davies, 'This Wheel's On Fire' (1993) p 188, "Bones", on The Band web site, 29 April 1998, Guestbook to the Band website, 23 December 1998. Perhaps because this was mentioned every time credits were discussed on Band compositions, Robbie Robertson has been quite specific on the long genesis of the song: Robbie Robertson (quoted by Barney Hoskyns)
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