The Band produced two of the best songs ever. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and The Weight. Robbie, Rick, Richard and Levon all gone, just Garth left. Such wonderful music.
In one beautful song a First Nations man from Toronto perfectly captured the imagined mindset and shattered emotions of a southern man recalling how his whole world fell apart during the Civil War. Levon Helm's vocals brought it all to life. That whole second Band album is a perfect, sepia-toned masterpiece.
You have to wonder how a Canadian somehow captured the intensity and passion of the south in such detail and encapsulated it into an epic poetic song where all could feel the poignancy of the South. My, father, a US Marine in WW2, ravaged physically, mentally and emotionally by constant battle, used to stare into space and cry while listening to this song. For him, it answered many questions that he never fully understood. That being, doing his basic training in the Deep South, and facing the bitterness, hate and contempt that his officers and sergeants treated the new Yankee Marines from the north with. Upon the railroad doors opening in Camp Lejeune, the northern Marines were first met by their drill sergeant who initiated their training by saying: “You f-ing Yankees are gonna wish you never were born.” He told me “They we’re still fighting The Civil War,” which was incomprehensible to him at the time, because he thought the only was was overseas. But the song is a confluence of the pain of war, and the southern sentiment, which kind of brought it all full circle for him. My father had a military burial with a 21 gun salute, reminiscent of the burials he witnessed for all his fallen brothers. But, I was always flabbergasted by how a sort of hippie group, never experiencing war could document the saga so precisely. Levon Helm singing it on the drums with his southern demeanor, catapults it to the realm of the surreal.
Amazing history mate. Thanks for sharing. We in the rest of the world have so little understanding of the cultural complexities of the south. It's fascinating to hear more.
@@gtofto I agree with your “empathy” analysis. He did have a sort of sixth sense to feel and relate on an extremely deep level. It came out in his expression of lyrics and storytelling. He was quite expressive and literate.
Nope, there's a good side and a traitorous side. Let's equate Nazi's and Imperial Japanese as forgetful misunderstood combatants, regardless of what side they were on? The South were phucking traitors. to their oaths and the Constitution. Lee from West Point...? pure rotten traitor.
Yes. Folks who hated slavery fought & died in the Southern army. Young men dying for greedy old men. That had to be such a gut wrenching era. I support it had to be that way. Damn. If the South has abolished slavery , England was ready to jump in on their side . I wonder how many pieces the USA would have been chopped into. Like Europe.
Absolutely heartbreaking… I don’t mind choppin wood( killing)n I don’t care if the money’s no good you take what you need and you leave the rest but they should never have taken the very best… 😢
Incredibly symbiotic relationship between Robbie's lyrics and Levon's impassioned vocals and performance gave us this all-time classic - two guys who hailed from two completely different backgrounds. Incredible. RIP Robbie & Levon.
Many people don't realize the song is very nuanced. It's about the waning days of the war just before and after Lee's surrender from an ordinary Southern soldier or layman. He worked on the "Danville Train" (Danville , VA) till "Stoneman's Calvary came, tore up the tracks again" - but Stoneman's Calvary were SOUTHERNERS fighting for the UNION out of nearby Knoxville, TN. (nearly all of East TN stayed in the Union). Stoneman was charged by the Union Army with putting out the last of the Southern Rebellion AFTER Lee's surrender, and they came down hard on fellow Southerners who would not lay arms down. The songs storyteller laments "Chopping Wood but the money's no good". The Union Army put thousands of Southern men to work in the months after the war doing manual labor for little pay. A major job was chopping wood for heating etc.. The song is about the changing and fraying of a society.
The Civil War was anything but cut and dried. I had an ancestor in the Confederate Army, but he was Cherokee. I had another who joined the Union Army. They were both from Mississippi! Talk about complexity…
@@5roundsrapid263 I lived in the "Deep South" for a long time. There they don't call it the "Civil War" they call it "The War of the Northern Aggression." That will give you a hint about their attitude.
Right!??? I play piano, and until I saw this today, I've actually never played the song before. Man, it is truly exquisite composition, I must say!! Do you play dude?
@@Bluzian74ok...actually I do "practice" guitar but I'm pretty bad. I've sunk deep into theory which I actually like learning but as far as playing or performing, not so much.
@@EastmanD Get a keyboard, or just try a few other instruments. Got to practice though. I’ve never met anyone, who actually practiced everyday, who couldn’t play well, after even just a couple years. You may not ever be a soloist, or a songwriter, but you can be a musician.
Robbie Robertson researched the history of the American South and the Civil War and came up with one of the most classiest , superb songs of the popular music genre ....of all time ! To be able to do the story and the history justice takes a very special intellect and understanding of the complete situation . Don't forget that he wrote all of those other well researched and crafted songs with The Band too . He knew all along what he was doing at all times ...nothing was left to chance ! My hero ,my inspiration .RIP Robbie Robertson .
Robbie supposedly wrote one song about Canadian history, something he should know well or be able to research easily, "Acadian Driftwood". There's a lot he got wrong in the song historically, though it's a great song. The battle on the Plains of Abraham don't really have much to do with Acadian History for one and the events are in the wrong order. I'm supposed to believe that he gets his American history and the feel and stories of the South so correct in other songs, all by himself. I'm not buying it, but hey, he was great, RIP. I just think there was a lot more collaboration, even if it was loose and unstructured going on then Robbie wanted to admit. Too bad, they were all so talented and missed today. There should have been more to this story.
Song doesn't take a stance one way or the other, it's from one person's point of view, so not exactly the wrong side of anything. It'll always be a great song, like Huck Finn will always be a great book, never mind what people try to make of them.@@mcfahk
Tears and chills. Robbie. The Band. Even in his speaking voice you feel the majesty of the the incomparable music he and his Band-mates created. Bob, George, Eric, Neil felt it. And everyone else on down the line. Thanks for so much, Robbie. Take care.
@@marcmaschal2897 Come on, bro. How many soldiers died on both sides of the line? And by extension how many families suffered the loss? Where else could Rebel emotions go but towards saving at all cost the side they believed was fighting the righteous and just cause. Blame the politicians and the ruling class. For them, slavery was a boon and a necessity to sustain and grow the Southern economy. But the empirical reality was slavery was THE single most despicable crime in American history! How easy it was and still is, for "leaders" to dupe ordinary people into believing what they're told to believe. These days a President can declare free and fair elections to be fraudulent, prompting a national split into two factions, similar in numbers "warring" sides, like the Union and the Confederacy. One thing's certain, evolution has not made this country smarter. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" speaks to the dignity and nobility of Man in his suffering at the loss of life and fading dreams, and in the face of being cruelly misled by the most morally reprehensible among us. Nothing changes. And neither does the profound significance of this song. It stands as one of the greatest achievements ever, I believe, in all of popular music!
@@marcmaschal2897That’s a misinterpretation of the song. The song is from the view of an ordinary southerner at that time and place and what those events were like for them. It’s about the affects of war and the suffering that comes with it. That happens to all sides in a war - even the side that deserved to lose. It’s possible to be sympathetic to some of the constituent people caught up in or participating in a conflict without siding with the broader moral implications behind it.
@DSBac Exactly. I once saw a documentary where they were interviewing ordinary German citizens who lived through the allied bombing of Berlin. No matter what side you're on, war is a terrible thing for the average person.
""Just take what you need and leave the rest. But they should never have taken the very best." The flower of the South's young men, from families that traced back to the Founders, and Revolutionary War Heros, fought and died for the Southern - Constitutional cause.
@@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244 Yeah, the traitorous side. Ignoring their oaths to the Constitution and the Union. A despicable culture based on enslaving others for their own profit. Too bad we killed so many Nazis and Japs. Gone easy, they're just slightly misguided. Yeah, sure.
@@f9qothere’s evidence now that the confederates were the ones to actually do the burning and blamed Sherman in order to generate more ill will towards the North. Who knows though. War is so terrible and unnecessary. I wish war would end on our planet.
just listen to those lyrics..........as a child of the south they have given me the chills since the first time I heard it. What genius as a songwriter. You can just put yourself in Virgil's shoes. Unreal.
It is amazing that an Indigenous Mohawk from Six Nations Reserve could write a song about the Confederate South and the Civil War..the line: "Now I don't mind chppoin' wood And I don't care if the money's no good You take what you need and you leave the rest, But they should have never taken the very best." Sums up how war kills the bravest and youngest of us all. Brilliant song from a very forward thinking man. RIP Robbie
Just love The Band, they were like no other. That's how they got their name, from their peers saying let's go see the band tonight. We listened to and watched video of R.R. last night for 5 hours , both solo and with The Band. RIP Robbie, you were amazing and I hope you are with your bandmates today.
According to a recent documentary, when they lived at Big Pink, friends who wanted to visit them would go to the main town and ask for directions -- the locals would say oh, you mean "The Band", they live over at such and such... They were simply known as "The Band" by their townsfolk, and it stuck. I'm not saying that's the definitive answer, that's just yet another version of the story.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is the quintessential Band song. Levon’s vocal, the story-like quality of the lyrics, everything The Band was about and portrayed is right there. Like many, I love The Weight the most of all their songs. But “Dixie Down” defines The Band.
I saw Bob Dylan & the Band back in '74 during his Plant Waves tour. I went with a group of 4. I told them I coudnt wait to see my idol Dylan...& they all responded they couldnt wait to see the Band. I was perplexed...until I saw the concert & then I understood.
"whole new point of view" and it can bring you to tears. I just hear the blues in their music. REAL blues man, because of the sadness it's beautiful. and that is a breath of fresh air.
Rest Easy, Robbie.There will never anyone who could fill your shoes.Thanks for lifting me up when I was so very down. I cannot watch the first Scene of The Last Waltz without crying." Good Night and Good Bye..
And gangsta rap would be called horribly racist if done by whites. Yet it is defended as " black culture" : it is black culture as is the song Pretty Boy Floyd is to white culture.
I love the talk about the conditions around songwriting. So true. Just an aside remark...in a conversation...can be the impetus..or an associative thought.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - is one of the most important songs of people's music. And rock is the essence of people's music in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The song takes you on an emotional journey that is hard to explain. The tune is so powerful I am sure I've sung it hundreds of times. As I sing it there is such a powerful feeling that comes over me, it's as if I am transported back to the Civil War and a feeling comes over me actually being there caught up in all it's act!
@RogerKomula-k191b, I'm with you on that! I also very much dislike the comment toward the end about the South rising again. No, but thanks. The revisionist history version of that war being fought for state's rights is absolute BS. Such a shame - men, war, and some godforsaken desire to glorify it. That's pathetic.
@@daddymuggle Rubbish. It's a lament for the suffering of those with no agency, subject to forces beyond their control. It in no way endorses slavery or expresses sympathy for slave owners; something Virgil Caine assuredly was not. To make the point even clearer, Richmond was put to the torch by retreating Confederates, not Grant's occupying Union forces. Ultimately, it is an anti-war song. This (along with the of the album it's from) might help with a less simplistic conception of the South: th-cam.com/video/1MIztbe1_e8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rh6k617rn_2iGPP1
@@RogerKomula-kl9lb I can recommend a good remedial comprehension teacher, since you obviously need one. The idea that Robbie Robertson was a proponent of the "lost cause" is laughable and moronic. Are you aware that Lee tried to stop Virginia seceding and hoped she would cleave to the Union? He was motivated by loyalty to Virginia, not support for slavery. Nevertheless, such motive does not absolve his culpability as the moral urgency of abolition should have transcended parochial patriotism. Lee is a tragic figure (in the Shakespearean sense) but no hero.
Way back yonder when Music from big pink first played on my turntable, I knew this was something special. I still dug the Zepplin, Kinks CSN&Y ETC ETC. But the BAND, they were the cat's meow. "When I paint my masterpiece" tells a story, the story is their music is THE MASTERPEICE.
First time i heard The Band. Hard Rain. Dylan's lp. Then i got that Band lp Big Pink. Then i went to see that Scorcese film The Last Waltz. It was a matinee showing....tgere were maybe 8 people in a majestic old theatre....perfectly appropriate to the film. And I left the theatre...very sad...i missed a chapter in history. They were finished. Their songs still stayed with me. I loved Rick Danko and Levon Helm. Each member was essential to their overall sound. But Danko was a favorite. His vocals and stage presence. Classic strong support.
It is hard to pick favorites when it comes to The Band. When it comes to looks (I'm female and of their generation) Robbie was the best looking, but there was something special about Rick Danko, especially when he sings "It makes no difference", so I would say Rick is my favorite, due to his soulful singing, his endearing peronality and look, and Robbie a close second, due to his songwriting and guitar playing, and looks, and oh his storytelling skills.
I just watched the movie Carny with Robbie Robertson and Gary Busey. The movie was good, not great, but watching Robbie was a great pleasure, I have never seen him look that good, I guess in movie they know how to bring out the best. Jodie Foster was also in the movie. If you are a fan of Robbie you might want to watch it, like I said not bad.@@heathergibson3590
As much as I love Robbie and his songwriting and his guitar playing, when it came to singing he could not compete with Levon, Richard and my favorite Rick Danko.@@edhorton2766
@@NVRAMboi well there’s no shortage of blues and bluesy stories in the South. I’m sure Levon provided a lot of impetus to write about those hardships. Amazing band and almost as distressing as the Badfinger story when realizing what became of all the members. At least The Band made some money and got some accolades from the industry.
I wish more people could appreciate the meaning of "The NIght They Drove Old Dixie Down". This beautiful song is not really about the South or "the old South". It's about the romantic sentiments of just one group in the South, white supremacists. Black and Brown people, Native American people don't sing or play this song. It's helpful to be aware that a significant portion of the people who live in the former Confederate States we call "the South" are Black, Red, and Brown; social justice advocates, progressives, hippies, and Democrats. What a rich irony that these demographics don't register in the minds of most people who love this song. Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I love this song, and being black it tends to cause problems for me when I want to sing it. I am in a band and we do Folk Bluegrass. Rock and blues. One of the other band members who play the banjo is also black and we had a gig coming up, I had this song on our list of songs we were going to play, I got a call from our banjo player and he told me he had a problem with the song, and if I did it he was going to set out and not play.. So I told him I understood. But I look at it this way, all war is bad. And the Civil War was the worst. I think it is Ironic that this was called the Civil War because in truth there was nothing civil about it at all. This war saddens me for so many reasons. Robbie says Lavon's father declared one day the South will rise again. What does that mean, especially for someone like me? Does this mean I go into shackles and my humanity is taken away from me? Does it mean I become someone's farm animal? The song as I look at it is about my southern brothers, I say brothers because they are of the human race. The poet John Donne wrote "No Man Is An Island." I feel for the soldiers from the south who fell because they were human just like me. I feel for the farmers who lost their land during this conflict. But I say this, it had to happen. Just read Uncle Tom's Cabin and you will know why this had to be. But I can still feel for Robbie's character in the song Virgil Kane because he is human, no matter what his race is. Is the song saying the Union of this nation should have never happened? Is it saying that slavery should still be in practice? I really don't think so. I think it is about a man who got caught up in the Civil War and suffered from the consequences. In truth I think the Band wrote an antiwar song. I shudder to think that it could mean more than that,
I perform My Old Kentucky Home and always get compliments and praised for the way I do it. But occasionally somebody approaches me and says, I can't believe you do that song. Stephen Foster wrote that song After reading Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1851. I think it really captures the sentiment of a black slave being sold down river and separated from his family. A great songwriter can capture the sentiment of Past Times
Arguably the greatest American song...written by a Canadian. I saw the group numerous times at Fillmore East and on the New York college concert circuit. I can honestly say they were great every time I saw them. I could have done without the horn section they added. Four great singers, great material, crazy Garth on the organ, tragic Richard Manuel on piano. Remarkable conglomeration of top talent..
The Jerry Garcia Band has some nice versions of this song. Jerry liked to play it like Robbie was playing it: in dirge mode until, well, he wasn't. Robbie really was one of the great song writers. A loss.
Current events would tell us that Old Dixie was not driven down deep enough as it is now, as it was then, one of the the greatest perils facing western democracy and human decency.
As it is now, weee gonna have to save the country from stupid and “1 full year as a girl”, tampons in men’s rooms, etc. long list of things to do as you squat to pee and then wipe ur..Py….! 😂😂😂
So much depth to this song, when I moved to Mississippi, I learned that “my people” in the Old South meant my slaves. Several people I knew in the South said the chorus of this song is about African American emancipation. I have accepted this interpretation, although it does not get discussed much. Either way, the song is a masterpiece.
Love this song!! Well done Robbie! So, I never understood the lyrics about seeing the steamboat Robert E. Lee passing by. Wasn't this boat owned by the Confederates? But they lyrics seem to say it was a Union boat even though Robert E. Lee was the top general of the Confederate army.
Stoneman’s Cavalry came to my hometown. Came for the gun works but was misled by a child. Raided the armory instead. Dumped two wagon loads of rifles into Deep River before taking off to Salisbury POW camp.
It is an extraordinary song, and one of my all time favorites. But after years of loving it I have come to realize that it also celebrates a part of the south -- perhaps a good part -- without recognizing that it ignores the terrible imposition made by the leaders of the South, who supported the evil condition of slavery. Part of our current politics depends on those still living that evil, and I would like this song to not give it any support. If I had been able, I would have asked Robbie to write additional verses, from both the viewpoint of a slave, and of a white man or woman (I think of Joan Baez singing this) not wanting to be forced to support slavery nor to be denied his or her friends.
I'm still amazed that a Canadian could have encapsulated the feelings in this song, just as I'm still amazed that John Fogerty could've penned so many songs in a similar vein during CCR's heyday. Speaking as a lifelong Southerner, I don't ever see the South rising again, I just see the rest of the country sinking into the same quagmire to which they consigned us all those years ago...lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
The south isn't going to rise again because it was a white supremacist south. It was based on keeping down anyone nonwhite, female and without property --- most people. We understand and empathize with the strong feelings of romantic nostalgia many white southerners (and white northerners) still feel about those days. But that society was based on slavery, apartheid, hate and ignorance. We're not going back! Our national pride is not going to be based on bigotry and hate. This wonderful song is not an argument for reactionary politics, no matter how much you try to make it so.
I have mixed feelings about that song. It's powerfully written and stirring, but it's hard not to think that it kind of sentimentalizes the lost cause. I can understand why some people don't like it.
I know what u mean but it's also just a piece of art that perfectly captures a perspective. Perhaps one you and I disagree with but are better off knowing and understanding rather than just dismissing or worse condemning.
@@canadiancontent352 Exactly! I remember seeing that superb Ken Burns documentary and they recounted how someone asked a young Confederate soldier why he was fighting and he simply said, "Cos the Yankees are down here". To some it was simply an invasion of their territory, their home.
This song was always a wink to the South - stay true to your vile principles. No need to honor your oaths (Lee from West Point) or revere the Constitution.
@@higgsmerino3925 I don't think it's that simple. The Constitution is not an infallible document, no more than equivalent texts in other countries are. As for Lee, it's less well known that his reasons for rejecting command of the Union Army were personal to him. He knew that his home state would be a theatre of conflict and he felt an obligation to defend his homeland and his people. He was also against slavery and the secessionist movement that was designed to preserve slavery.
It's not about that. It's about the poor, regular working class people who had to be killed and devastated for generations in order to destroy that slave-based society. War is tragic on all sides. Thats my interpretation at least. The songwriter from what I've heard him say sounds like he just wanted to make a southern sounding song that his bandmate, Levon could sing better than anybody else. He drew the inspiration from meeting Levon's dad who was a southerner from an older generation. The fellas in The Band were no sympathizers to the Confederate cause. They loved black people and their culture immensely. Others can interpret the song however they please, but that would be a very confusing sentiment to come from Robbie/Levon given what we know of them as people.
The point of folk music is to understand the folks point of view/experience/ emotions. I bet you don't lament the fall of gangster rappers? Which in many ways is a kind of urban folk music similar in content to the folk music that talked of Jesse James to Pretty Boy Floyd. Or even goes back to the poem The Highwayman and others that have been set to music by folk singers to Metallica.
I'm ashamed to admit that the first version of this song I heard was the Joan Baez version. When I heard the original, l was blown away. I also realized that she screwed up the lyrics.
So many people celebrating this song. I believe Sherman said something like “war is hell”. He was right. And although I certainly sympathize with dirt farmers who had everything taken from them, probably from their own side in the war, and starving, they were and still are missing the point of the Civil War. Using pride and “honor”, leaders in the Southern states had persuaded southerners that they should give their lives for a cause that was not just wrong but actually evil. Slavery. 150 years later they still blame the North for their fate during and after that time. “The South will rise again?” There’s only one thing a statement like that could mean. Reinstalling human slavery. All southerners that fought for the Confederacy were traitors to the United States of America. What they should be saying is “Never Again”. Never again will we be talked into supporting and fighting for a cause that is at its most fundamental-evil. Right now in our history people are starting down that road. Supporting Trump and Fascist Kleptocracy. Another evil. Destroying our democracy. Breaking their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. For what. Is this a new Confederacy? I hope not.
I’m surprised the establishment hasn’t came for this song yet. I’m sure making something not negative about the civil war era South offends these people.
Periodically this black guy tunes in to the last part of gone with the wind. I do that just for the fire scene. Periodically when I lived in Atlanta I would ask a local witch Way is Sherman Street . I also do this for the last part of they died with their boots on with Errol Flynn. Anthony Quinn who was of Hispanic decent was the young actor on horseback. He had to anglicized his last name to work in Hollywood. The irony of him putting a cap in Custer's ass Still thrills me. Guess what I still like the weight and up on cripple go figure huh. PS I know that's the fictional account of the Little bighorn don't care.
The left side of my brain loves this song right up until the right side reminds me of the heinous cause of that orgy of killing and destruction that was the Civil War. Just as Robbie said at the end of the video, when he was visiting Levon’s home and his daddy said half jokingly and half sincerely, “Well you know Robbie, the south will rise again.” That forlorn hope encapsulates the tragedy of the south and the cost of believing in the lies of “The Lost Cause”. It fostered the next 100+ years of continuous racism and fed the fallacy that is white supremacy. It’s a shame that 150 years later “southern heritage” still holds onto this evil rationalization and its institutionalized denial of the facts. I’ve been hearing that “the South shall rise again” for all of my 65+ years and it hasn’t happened yet. Instead, this false history, that generations of the children of the south have been taught to believe as gospel, has left them carrying the weight of falsehoods that just won’t die. It leaves the southern states open to the lies of any politician that mentions the dog whistle of “I believe in states rights” and once again the flag of the seditious army of northern virginia is unfurled in public to be joined now with the flag bearing the ungodly Swastika in the accompanying tiki-torch marches. That weight has hung around their necks spawning a self perception of inferiority as well as a feeling of separation from the rest of the Union ever since their defeat at Appomattox and the ratification of the 13th Amendment . That feeling of separateness has influenced the political landscape of our nation from that time and it continues now as one can openly see the damages of the present “polarization”wrought by their willingness to believe in new lies. It’s a contagion that will keep the south from “rising again” until it is excised from the southern consciousness. That, and only that, will allow the south to truly and fully rejoin the Union and “rise again”. I still fervently hope to see that happy day come when the south casts off the weight of the “lost cause”. Semper Fi
The Band produced two of the best songs ever. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and The Weight. Robbie, Rick, Richard and Levon all gone, just Garth left. Such wonderful music.
Totally agree 👍
I agree, but up on cripple creek is my all time favorite, personally.
Legends, each and everyone of them
That’s why they’re called The Band, cause at that time they ALL had their job. Their place. It was Magic!
Ophelia, Rag Mama Rag, Up On Cripple Creek, Stage Fright, It Makes No Difference, The Shape I'm in and Don't Do It are pretty awesome too
@@mcburnski true so true
In one beautful song a First Nations man from Toronto perfectly captured the imagined mindset and shattered emotions of a southern man recalling how his whole world fell apart during the Civil War. Levon Helm's vocals brought it all to life. That whole second Band album is a perfect, sepia-toned masterpiece.
And no one sees the possibility it's all fiction. Like old ladies all weepy over JFK and Jon Jon, Southerners get all wet over Dixie.
Couldn’t have put it better.
What incredibly beautiful and profound words. Thank you so much!
@@heidilady Thank you for your kind words...
@@AnnetteWernblad Thank you so much for your kind words...
You have to wonder how a Canadian somehow captured the intensity and passion of the south in such detail and encapsulated it into an epic poetic song where all could feel the poignancy of the South.
My, father, a US Marine in WW2, ravaged physically, mentally and emotionally by constant battle, used to stare into space and cry while listening to this song.
For him, it answered many questions that he never fully understood. That being, doing his basic training in the Deep South, and facing the bitterness, hate and contempt that his officers and sergeants treated the new Yankee Marines from the north with.
Upon the railroad doors opening in Camp Lejeune, the northern Marines were first met by their drill sergeant who initiated their training by saying: “You f-ing Yankees are gonna wish you never were born.” He told me “They we’re still fighting The Civil War,” which was incomprehensible to him at the time, because he thought the only was was overseas.
But the song is a confluence of the pain of war, and the southern sentiment, which kind of brought it all full circle for him. My father had a military burial with a 21 gun salute, reminiscent of the burials he witnessed for all his fallen brothers.
But, I was always flabbergasted by how a sort of hippie group, never experiencing war could document the saga so precisely. Levon Helm singing it on the drums with his southern demeanor, catapults it to the realm of the surreal.
Amazing history mate. Thanks for sharing. We in the rest of the world have so little understanding of the cultural complexities of the south. It's fascinating to hear more.
@@blehoo1 thank you for understanding.
I am thinking his Haudensauni heritage gave Robbie empathy for those who were given short shrift or disdainfully treated
@@gtofto I agree with your “empathy” analysis. He did have a sort of sixth sense to feel and relate on an extremely deep level. It came out in his expression of lyrics and storytelling. He was quite expressive and literate.
So we'll said .Thankyou
He distilled defeat in war (regardless of the side one is on) that the ordinary soldier experienced. And Levon sang his heart out!
Nope, there's a good side and a traitorous side. Let's equate Nazi's and Imperial Japanese as forgetful misunderstood combatants, regardless of what side they were on? The South were phucking traitors. to their oaths and the Constitution. Lee from West Point...? pure rotten traitor.
Yes. Folks who hated slavery fought & died in the Southern army. Young men dying for greedy old men. That had to be such a gut wrenching era. I support it had to be that way. Damn. If the South has abolished slavery , England was ready to jump in on their side . I wonder how many pieces the USA would have been chopped into. Like Europe.
Absolutely heartbreaking… I don’t mind choppin wood( killing)n I don’t care if the money’s no good you take what you need and you leave the rest but they should never have taken the very best… 😢
@@tomlund4951slaves could have said the same thing about the South, lest we forget....
@@larsrodbok1285 Of course!
Incredibly symbiotic relationship between Robbie's lyrics and Levon's impassioned vocals and performance gave us this all-time classic - two guys who hailed from two completely different backgrounds. Incredible. RIP Robbie & Levon.
Robbie was a First People descendant from Canada being half native.
Yea… the talent and the greedy one!! Levon took Robbie to libraries to read about the war. He had no clue. This is Levon’s song.
Many people don't realize the song is very nuanced. It's about the waning days of the war just before and after Lee's surrender from an ordinary Southern soldier or layman. He worked on the "Danville Train" (Danville , VA) till "Stoneman's Calvary came, tore up the tracks again" - but Stoneman's Calvary were SOUTHERNERS fighting for the UNION out of nearby Knoxville, TN. (nearly all of East TN stayed in the Union). Stoneman was charged by the Union Army with putting out the last of the Southern Rebellion AFTER Lee's surrender, and they came down hard on fellow Southerners who would not lay arms down. The songs storyteller laments "Chopping Wood but the money's no good". The Union Army put thousands of Southern men to work in the months after the war doing manual labor for little pay. A major job was chopping wood for heating etc.. The song is about the changing and fraying of a society.
The Civil War was anything but cut and dried. I had an ancestor in the Confederate Army, but he was Cherokee. I had another who joined the Union Army. They were both from Mississippi! Talk about complexity…
@@5roundsrapid263 I lived in the "Deep South" for a long time. There they don't call it the "Civil War" they call it "The War of the Northern Aggression." That will give you a hint about their attitude.
Thank you. You laid down a beautiful history lesson. I must read it a few more times.
Lord I'd love to have Robbie doing the whole song on piano....gives me chills. Love the man.
Right!??? I play piano, and until I saw this today, I've actually never played the song before. Man, it is truly exquisite composition, I must say!! Do you play dude?
@@Bluzian74 Wish I did.
@@EastmanD Oh no!!?? Why not!!!?
@@Bluzian74ok...actually I do "practice" guitar but I'm pretty bad. I've sunk deep into theory which I actually like learning but as far as playing or performing, not so much.
@@EastmanD
Get a keyboard, or just try a few other instruments.
Got to practice though.
I’ve never met anyone, who actually practiced everyday, who couldn’t play well, after even just a couple years.
You may not ever be a soloist, or a songwriter, but you can be a musician.
Robbie Robertson researched the history of the American South and the Civil War and came up with one of the most classiest , superb songs of the popular music genre ....of all time ! To be able to do the story and the history justice takes a very special intellect and understanding of the complete situation . Don't forget that he wrote all of those other well researched and crafted songs with The Band too . He knew all along what he was doing at all times ...nothing was left to chance ! My hero ,my inspiration .RIP Robbie Robertson .
@johncopeland3826-robbie didn’t research so much as he did talking to Levon
Robbie supposedly wrote one song about Canadian history, something he should know well or be able to research easily, "Acadian Driftwood". There's a lot he got wrong in the song historically, though it's a great song. The battle on the Plains of Abraham don't really have much to do with Acadian History for one and the events are in the wrong order. I'm supposed to believe that he gets his American history and the feel and stories of the South so correct in other songs, all by himself. I'm not buying it, but hey, he was great, RIP. I just think there was a lot more collaboration, even if it was loose and unstructured going on then Robbie wanted to admit. Too bad, they were all so talented and missed today. There should have been more to this story.
A bit vague, don't think there were any lyrics others contributed, but if so, they should get credit. @@josephdufresne1028
It's called poetic license. Never claimed "Acadian Driftwood" was history. Collaboration? Perhaps, but no proof of it.
@@josephdufresne1028
Song doesn't take a stance one way or the other, it's from one person's point of view, so not exactly the wrong side of anything. It'll always be a great song, like Huck Finn will always be a great book, never mind what people try to make of them.@@mcfahk
RIP Robbie 💔 your spirit will never die ❤🎶🎸🥀🕊️🕯️🙏
This could have been written during the civil war, an Incredible piece of music.
I was fortunate to hear The Band perform that song on a beautiful night in Richmond, Virginia at the Amphitheater! We all sang along! Great memories..
Tears and chills. Robbie. The Band. Even in his speaking voice you feel the majesty of the the incomparable music he and his Band-mates created. Bob, George, Eric, Neil felt it. And everyone else on down the line. Thanks for so much, Robbie. Take care.
So it doesn't bother you that this song supports the Confederacy who were traitors and believed in slavery ?
@@marcmaschal2897 Come on, bro. How many soldiers died on both sides of the line? And by extension how many families suffered the loss? Where else could Rebel emotions go but towards saving at all cost the side they believed was fighting the righteous and just cause. Blame the politicians and the ruling class. For them, slavery was a boon and a necessity to sustain and grow the Southern economy.
But the empirical reality was slavery was THE single most despicable crime in American history! How easy it was and still is, for "leaders" to dupe ordinary people into believing what they're told to believe. These days a President can declare free and fair elections to be fraudulent, prompting a national split into two factions, similar in numbers "warring" sides, like the Union and the Confederacy. One thing's certain, evolution has not made this country smarter. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" speaks to the dignity and nobility of Man in his suffering at the loss of life and fading dreams, and in the face of being cruelly misled by the most morally reprehensible among us. Nothing changes. And neither does the profound significance of this song. It stands as one of the greatest achievements ever, I believe, in all of popular music!
@@marcmaschal2897That’s a misinterpretation of the song.
The song is from the view of an ordinary southerner at that time and place and what those events were like for them. It’s about the affects of war and the suffering that comes with it. That happens to all sides in a war - even the side that deserved to lose.
It’s possible to be sympathetic to some of the constituent people caught up in or participating in a conflict without siding with the broader moral implications behind it.
@DSBac Exactly. I once saw a documentary where they were interviewing ordinary German citizens who lived through the allied bombing of Berlin. No matter what side you're on, war is a terrible thing for the average person.
You take what you need and you leave the rest...........BUT THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE TAKEN THE VERY BEST. Prophetic words. RIP Robbie.
His line in the song about about chopping wood.......you take what you need and leave the rest....it's a great great line.
""Just take what you need and leave the rest. But they should never have taken the very best." The flower of the South's young men, from families that traced back to the Founders, and Revolutionary War Heros, fought and died for the Southern - Constitutional cause.
Sherman's destructive "March to the Sea".
@@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244 Yeah, the traitorous side. Ignoring their oaths to the Constitution and the Union. A despicable culture based on enslaving others for their own profit. Too bad we killed so many Nazis and Japs. Gone easy, they're just slightly misguided. Yeah, sure.
@@f9qothere’s evidence now that the confederates were the ones to actually do the burning and blamed Sherman in order to generate more ill will towards the North. Who knows though. War is so terrible and unnecessary. I wish war would end on our planet.
Sounds almost communist. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
just listen to those lyrics..........as a child of the south they have given me the chills since the first time I heard it. What genius as a songwriter. You can just put yourself in Virgil's shoes. Unreal.
It is amazing that an Indigenous Mohawk from Six Nations Reserve could write a song about the Confederate South and the Civil War..the line:
"Now I don't mind chppoin' wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need and you leave the rest,
But they should have never taken the very best."
Sums up how war kills the bravest and youngest of us all.
Brilliant song from a very forward thinking man.
RIP Robbie
@@tomthebomb557trump Lost dude
@gregtennessee8249 that comment make absolutely no sense.
@tomthebomb557
Probably the most empathetic war song ever written.
I’ve always loved seeing and hearing Levon Helm doing this song. I’ve always loved him. ❤
What a beautiful piano version...I hope that a version like that one day sees the light of day.....Thanks Robbie, RIP.......🕊️💜................
Just love The Band, they were like no other. That's how they got their name, from their peers saying let's go see the band tonight. We listened to and watched video of R.R. last night for 5 hours , both solo and with The Band. RIP Robbie, you were amazing and I hope you are with your bandmates today.
The name actually came from being "the band" that backed Dylan in the 60s.
@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244 exactly, but you know how people like to make up sht on TH-cam.
According to a recent documentary, when they lived at Big Pink, friends who wanted to visit them would go to the main town and ask for directions -- the locals would say oh, you mean "The Band", they live over at such and such... They were simply known as "The Band" by their townsfolk, and it stuck. I'm not saying that's the definitive answer, that's just yet another version of the story.
@@NewFalconerRecords yes, that was in The Last Watz. Dylan called them The Band, as did people in town.
I like that version. @@NewFalconerRecords
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is the quintessential Band song. Levon’s vocal, the story-like quality of the lyrics, everything The Band was about and portrayed is right there. Like many, I love The Weight the most of all their songs. But “Dixie Down” defines The Band.
Rob wrote amazing lyrics, awesome. One thing people forget is that every guitarist owes a lot to him, he kept up with Clapton, not many are able.
RIP Robbie, thanks for the music.
I saw Bob Dylan & the Band back in '74 during his Plant Waves tour. I went with a group of 4. I told them I coudnt wait to see my idol Dylan...& they all responded they couldnt wait to see the Band. I was perplexed...until I saw the concert & then I understood.
You are so lucky!
When I heard this song for the first time, I thought is was an obscure ballad. This song brought me to The Band.
"whole new point of view" and it can bring you to tears. I just hear the blues in their music. REAL blues man, because of the sadness it's beautiful. and that is a breath of fresh air.
Rest Easy, Robbie.There will never anyone who could fill your shoes.Thanks for lifting me up when I was so very down. I cannot watch the first Scene of The Last Waltz without crying." Good Night and Good Bye..
From a Danville VA native, thank you Robbie Robertson.
It was a genius and highly emotional song. Straight to the heart.
Rest In Peace Robbie Robertson
Keep seeing this song showing up in listings of songs that you "didn't know were racist". That's how crazy this world has gotten.
Stop looking at those lists. They are compiled by racists.
Don't forget it was Lee's Confederate army who take Virgil's wood
And gangsta rap would be called horribly racist if done by whites. Yet it is defended as " black culture" : it is black culture as is the song Pretty Boy Floyd is to white culture.
@@joekavanagh7171
And burned Richmond.
Lost another one of my heroes RIP Robbie
I love the talk about the conditions around songwriting. So true. Just an aside remark...in a conversation...can be the impetus..or an associative thought.
Quite a work of art
The GREATEST American Rock Band was 80% Canadian!!!!!!!!
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - is one of the most important songs of people's music. And rock is the essence of people's music in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Thankful for this jewel!! Once again proves where the real talent was in The Band!! Levon Helm. And RR took the money and ran!!!
One of the greatest songs of all time. For me, it's this and Dylan's Tangled up in Blue.
Thanks for this!! I love this song❤
It’s an amazing song. I enjoy performing it. 🪦 RIP Robbie 💔
You take what you need, and you leave the rest. ❤
Another great Canadian gift to the world.
The song takes you on an emotional journey that is hard to explain. The tune is so powerful I am sure I've sung it hundreds of times. As I sing it there is such a powerful feeling that comes over me, it's as if I am transported back to the Civil War and a feeling comes over me actually being there caught up in all it's act!
Love hearing about Dixie going down.
@RogerKomula-k191b, I'm with you on that! I also very much dislike the comment toward the end about the South rising again. No, but thanks. The revisionist history version of that war being fought for state's rights is absolute BS. Such a shame - men, war, and some godforsaken desire to glorify it. That's pathetic.
It's a beautiful, powerful song with an ugly, cowardly heart. Crying for the poor slave owners.
@@daddymuggle
Rubbish. It's a lament for the suffering of those with no agency, subject to forces beyond their control. It in no way endorses slavery or expresses sympathy for slave owners; something Virgil Caine assuredly was not. To make the point even clearer, Richmond was put to the torch by retreating Confederates, not Grant's occupying Union forces.
Ultimately, it is an anti-war song.
This (along with the of the album it's from) might help with a less simplistic conception of the South:
th-cam.com/video/1MIztbe1_e8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rh6k617rn_2iGPP1
@@timdoherty101 you can take your Bobby Lee worship and roll it in a tiny ball and insert it.
@@RogerKomula-kl9lb
I can recommend a good remedial comprehension teacher, since you obviously need one. The idea that Robbie Robertson was a proponent of the "lost cause" is laughable and moronic.
Are you aware that Lee tried to stop Virginia seceding and hoped she would cleave to the Union? He was motivated by loyalty to Virginia, not support for slavery. Nevertheless, such motive does not absolve his culpability as the moral urgency of abolition should have transcended parochial patriotism. Lee is a tragic figure (in the Shakespearean sense) but no hero.
Love it! Sad loss, RIP.
Such empathy. It gives me hope that we can get to greater understanding of the other if we want to.
I just realized he has passed away. Rest in peace Robbie.
I wish I could have seen The Band live !! What a masterpiece !!❤
Superb song!🇬🇧
Way back yonder when Music from big pink first played on my turntable, I knew this was something special. I still dug the Zepplin, Kinks CSN&Y ETC ETC. But the BAND, they were the cat's meow. "When I paint my masterpiece" tells a story, the story is their music is THE MASTERPEICE.
RIP Robbie. Another one is gone.
This is from the Classic Album series with this episode featuring The Band’s second album.
The only confederate song I loved. Made you think. Just beautiful.
Another fine example of why “Robbie” wasn’t allowed to sing!! At least he knew it. 😢😢
First time i heard The Band. Hard Rain. Dylan's lp. Then i got that Band lp Big Pink. Then i went to see that Scorcese film The Last Waltz. It was a matinee showing....tgere were maybe 8 people in a majestic old theatre....perfectly appropriate to the film. And I left the theatre...very sad...i missed a chapter in history. They were finished. Their songs still stayed with me. I loved Rick Danko and Levon Helm. Each member was essential to their overall sound. But Danko was a favorite. His vocals and stage presence. Classic strong support.
" we must sip the wine..
It is hard to pick favorites when it comes to The Band. When it comes to looks (I'm female and of their generation) Robbie was the best looking, but there was something special about Rick Danko, especially when he sings "It makes no difference", so I would say Rick is my favorite, due to his soulful singing, his endearing peronality and look, and Robbie a close second, due to his songwriting and guitar playing, and looks, and oh his storytelling skills.
@@hannejeppesen1809 I agree with you! Robbie is gorgeous and a wonderful raconteur... Still there is something about Richard Danko❤️
I just watched the movie Carny with Robbie Robertson and Gary Busey. The movie was good, not great, but watching Robbie was a great pleasure, I have never seen him look that good, I guess in movie they know how to bring out the best. Jodie Foster was also in the movie. If you are a fan of Robbie you might want to watch it, like I said not bad.@@heathergibson3590
RIP....JAIME ROYAL ROBERTSON
This made me appreciate Levon even more.
This might be the first time I’ve heard him sing, it’s not bad, I wonder why they never had his mic on
He sings a lot on his post-Band albums. He is good. The Band had no shortage of quality vocalists. Really tight.
As much as I love Robbie and his songwriting and his guitar playing, when it came to singing he could not compete with Levon, Richard and my favorite Rick Danko.@@edhorton2766
One of the best songs ever written
It amazes me that a Canadian boy wrote this song.
Thank goodness they did a new version on the last Waltz because the album version didn't do it justice.
The sands of time...covers everyone at some point. But there are echoes...
Interesting how so much if The Band’s songs were related to the South. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t all of them - except Levon - Canadian?
I believe you are correct.
@@NVRAMboi well there’s no shortage of blues and bluesy stories in the South. I’m sure Levon provided a lot of impetus to write about those hardships. Amazing band and almost as distressing as the Badfinger story when realizing what became of all the members. At least The Band made some money and got some accolades from the industry.
You are correct . Mostly Southern Ontario.
Robbie wrote the song after Levon told him the history.
I wish more people could appreciate the meaning of "The NIght They Drove Old Dixie Down". This beautiful song is not really about the South or "the old South". It's about the romantic sentiments of just one group in the South, white supremacists. Black and Brown people, Native American people don't sing or play this song. It's helpful to be aware that a significant portion of the people who live in the former Confederate States we call "the South" are Black, Red, and Brown; social justice advocates, progressives, hippies, and Democrats. What a rich irony that these demographics don't register in the minds of most people who love this song. Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I love this song, and being black it tends to cause problems for me when I want to sing it. I am in a band and we do Folk Bluegrass. Rock and blues. One of the other band members who play the banjo is also black and we had a gig coming up, I had this song on our list of songs we were going to play, I got a call from our banjo player and he told me he had a problem with the song, and if I did it he was going to set out and not play.. So I told him I understood. But I look at it this way, all war is bad. And the Civil War was the worst. I think it is Ironic that this was called the Civil War because in truth there was nothing civil about it at all. This war saddens me for so many reasons. Robbie says Lavon's father declared one day the South will rise again. What does that mean, especially for someone like me? Does this mean I go into shackles and my humanity is taken away from me? Does it mean I become someone's farm animal? The song as I look at it is about my southern brothers, I say brothers because they are of the human race. The poet John Donne wrote "No Man Is An Island." I feel for the soldiers from the south who fell because they were human just like me. I feel for the farmers who lost their land during this conflict. But I say this, it had to happen. Just read Uncle Tom's Cabin and you will know why this had to be. But I can still feel for Robbie's character in the song Virgil Kane because he is human, no matter what his race is. Is the song saying the Union of this nation should have never happened? Is it saying that slavery should still be in practice? I really don't think so. I think it is about a man who got caught up in the Civil War and suffered from the consequences. In truth I think the Band wrote an antiwar song. I shudder to think that it could mean more than that,
I perform My Old Kentucky Home and always get compliments and praised for the way I do it. But occasionally somebody approaches me and says, I can't believe you do that song. Stephen Foster wrote that song After reading Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1851. I think it really captures the sentiment of a black slave being sold down river and separated from his family. A great songwriter can capture the sentiment of Past Times
gives me goosebumps
Love❤you forever
RIP, such a sad day, the day Robbie went down:( Loved every note he ever played:( Aurevoir:(
Arguably the greatest American song...written by a Canadian. I saw the group numerous times at Fillmore East and on the New York college concert circuit. I can honestly say they were great every time I saw them. I could have done without the horn section they added. Four great singers, great material, crazy Garth on the organ, tragic Richard Manuel on piano. Remarkable conglomeration of top talent..
The Jerry Garcia Band has some nice versions of this song. Jerry liked to play it like Robbie was playing it: in dirge mode until, well, he wasn't. Robbie really was one of the great song writers. A loss.
Clever. A subtle whistle.
Levon was right about Robby not being a good singer but he was one hell of a song writer and player
Current events would tell us that Old Dixie was not driven down deep enough as it is now, as it was then, one of the the greatest perils facing western democracy and human decency.
I think that's the last bit of 'em going down kicking and screaming. But be careful what you wish for..
As it is now, weee gonna have to save the country from stupid and “1 full year as a girl”, tampons in men’s rooms, etc. long list of things to do as you squat to pee and then wipe ur..Py….! 😂😂😂
Just… wow.
So much depth to this song, when I moved to Mississippi, I learned that “my people” in the Old South meant my slaves. Several people I knew in the South said the chorus of this song is about African American emancipation. I have accepted this interpretation, although it does not get discussed much. Either way, the song is a masterpiece.
The Danville train ... Danville, Virginia that is ;)
Clay Hart does a version on the lawrence welk show and I love it. Its totally different.
Love this song!! Well done Robbie! So, I never understood the lyrics about seeing the steamboat Robert E. Lee passing by. Wasn't this boat owned by the Confederates? But they lyrics seem to say it was a Union boat even though Robert E. Lee was the top general of the Confederate army.
I'd like to have seen more on Stoneman's cavalry and what they did to the railroad.
Stoneman’s Cavalry came to my hometown. Came for the gun works but was misled by a child. Raided the armory instead. Dumped two wagon loads of rifles into Deep River before taking off to Salisbury POW camp.
Moral of the story: Don't want nothing...don't start nothing.
imagine what the slaves went through.
This guy’s countenance reminds me of Ray Liotta.
Yes, I agree.Both are beautiful men in their own right.
Gotta love Levon's dad..
Immortality Unlocked
I like both versions. Too bad i cant hear that piano version.
It is an extraordinary song, and one of my all time favorites. But after years of loving it I have come to realize that it also celebrates a part of the south -- perhaps a good part -- without recognizing that it ignores the terrible imposition made by the leaders of the South, who supported the evil condition of slavery. Part of our current politics depends on those still living that evil, and I would like this song to not give it any support. If I had been able, I would have asked Robbie to write additional verses, from both the viewpoint of a slave, and of a white man or woman (I think of Joan Baez singing this) not wanting to be forced to support slavery nor to be denied his or her friends.
I'm still amazed that a Canadian could have encapsulated the feelings in this song, just as I'm still amazed that John Fogerty could've penned so many songs in a similar vein during CCR's heyday. Speaking as a lifelong Southerner, I don't ever see the South rising again, I just see the rest of the country sinking into the same quagmire to which they consigned us all those years ago...lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
The south isn't going to rise again because it was a white supremacist south. It was based on keeping down anyone nonwhite, female and without property --- most people. We understand and empathize with the strong feelings of romantic nostalgia many white southerners (and white northerners) still feel about those days. But that society was based on slavery, apartheid, hate and ignorance. We're not going back! Our national pride is not going to be based on bigotry and hate. This wonderful song is not an argument for reactionary politics, no matter how much you try to make it so.
I have mixed feelings about that song. It's powerfully written and stirring, but it's hard not to think that it kind of sentimentalizes the lost cause. I can understand why some people don't like it.
I think that the Lost Cause movement may have sentimentalized
IT. Not the other way around.
I know what u mean but it's also just a piece of art that perfectly captures a perspective. Perhaps one you and I disagree with but are better off knowing and understanding rather than just dismissing or worse condemning.
@@canadiancontent352 Exactly! I remember seeing that superb Ken Burns documentary and they recounted how someone asked a young Confederate soldier why he was fighting and he simply said, "Cos the Yankees are down here". To some it was simply an invasion of their territory, their home.
I felt i was walking backward in time....discovering their catalogue. Judy Tench in Royal Oak helped me find things.
I can’t lament the fall of a slave-based society.
This song was always a wink to the South - stay true to your vile principles. No need to honor your oaths (Lee from West Point) or revere the Constitution.
@@higgsmerino3925 I don't think it's that simple. The Constitution is not an infallible document, no more than equivalent texts in other countries are. As for Lee, it's less well known that his reasons for rejecting command of the Union Army were personal to him. He knew that his home state would be a theatre of conflict and he felt an obligation to defend his homeland and his people. He was also against slavery and the secessionist movement that was designed to preserve slavery.
It's not about that. It's about the poor, regular working class people who had to be killed and devastated for generations in order to destroy that slave-based society. War is tragic on all sides. Thats my interpretation at least. The songwriter from what I've heard him say sounds like he just wanted to make a southern sounding song that his bandmate, Levon could sing better than anybody else. He drew the inspiration from meeting Levon's dad who was a southerner from an older generation. The fellas in The Band were no sympathizers to the Confederate cause. They loved black people and their culture immensely. Others can interpret the song however they please, but that would be a very confusing sentiment to come from Robbie/Levon given what we know of them as people.
The point of folk music is to understand the folks point of view/experience/ emotions.
I bet you don't lament the fall of gangster rappers? Which in many ways is a kind of urban folk music similar in content to the folk music that talked of Jesse James to Pretty Boy Floyd. Or even goes back to the poem The Highwayman and others that have been set to music by folk singers to Metallica.
A song that will always bring out the ignorance and hubris of Yankees. Who know nothing of the South but what their propagandists told them.
I always assumed it was a story of the Civil War that was also an allegory for the Vietnam War
I'm ashamed to admit that the first version of this song I heard was the Joan Baez version. When I heard the original, l was blown away. I also realized that she screwed up the lyrics.
And thank God they drove ol’ Dixie down.
So many people celebrating this song. I believe Sherman said something like “war is hell”. He was right. And although I certainly sympathize with dirt farmers who had everything taken from them, probably from their own side in the war, and starving, they were and still are missing the point of the Civil War. Using pride and “honor”, leaders in the Southern states had persuaded southerners that they should give their lives for a cause that was not just wrong but actually evil. Slavery. 150 years later they still blame the North for their fate during and after that time. “The South will rise again?” There’s only one thing a statement like that could mean. Reinstalling human slavery. All southerners that fought for the Confederacy were traitors to the United States of America. What they should be saying is “Never Again”. Never again will we be talked into supporting and fighting for a cause that is at its most fundamental-evil. Right now in our history people are starting down that road. Supporting Trump and Fascist Kleptocracy. Another evil. Destroying our democracy. Breaking their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. For what. Is this a new Confederacy? I hope not.
I’m surprised the establishment hasn’t came for this song yet. I’m sure making something not negative about the civil war era South offends these people.
That was Levon’s song!
They sure talked around it until they got to the point: "The South is going to rise again!"
3:32 Odd Ball looked a little pissed at things.
I thought Levon wrote it?
Strange he had such a small living space that he would wake up his daughter while playing music.
Periodically this black guy tunes in to the last part of gone with the wind. I do that just for the fire scene. Periodically when I lived in Atlanta I would ask a local witch Way is Sherman Street . I also do this for the last part of they died with their boots on with Errol Flynn. Anthony Quinn who was of Hispanic decent was the young actor on horseback. He had to anglicized his last name to work in Hollywood. The irony of him putting a cap in Custer's ass Still thrills me. Guess what I still like the weight and up on cripple go figure huh. PS I know that's the fictional account of the Little bighorn don't care.
Only Garth's left......
The left side of my brain loves this song right up until the right side reminds me of the heinous cause of that orgy of killing and destruction that was the Civil War.
Just as Robbie said at the end of the video, when he was visiting Levon’s home and his daddy said half jokingly and half sincerely,
“Well you know Robbie, the south will rise again.”
That forlorn hope encapsulates the tragedy of the south and the cost of believing in the lies of “The Lost Cause”. It fostered the next 100+ years of continuous racism and fed the fallacy that is white supremacy.
It’s a shame that 150 years later “southern heritage” still holds onto this evil rationalization and its institutionalized denial of the facts.
I’ve been hearing that “the South shall rise again” for all of my 65+ years and it hasn’t happened yet. Instead, this false history, that generations of the children of the south have been taught to believe as gospel, has left them carrying the weight of falsehoods that just won’t die. It leaves the southern states open to the lies of any politician that mentions the dog whistle of “I believe in states rights” and once again the flag of the seditious army of northern virginia is unfurled in public to be joined now with the flag bearing the ungodly Swastika in the accompanying tiki-torch marches.
That weight has hung around their necks spawning a self perception of inferiority as well as a feeling of separation from the rest of the Union ever since their defeat at Appomattox and the ratification of the 13th Amendment .
That feeling of separateness has influenced the political landscape of our nation from that time and it continues now as one can openly see the damages of the present “polarization”wrought by their willingness to believe in new lies.
It’s a contagion that will keep the south from “rising again” until it is excised from the southern consciousness. That, and only that, will allow the south to truly and fully rejoin the Union and “rise again”. I still fervently hope to see that happy day come when the south casts off the weight of the “lost cause”. Semper Fi