robbie robertson wrote the night they drove old dixie down lyrics.
robbie robertson wrote the night they drove old dixie down lyrics.
who wrote the night they drove old dixie down lyrics?
robbie robertson
"the night they drove old dixie down" is a song written by robbie robertson and originally recorded by the canadian roots rock group the band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. levon helm provided the lead vocals. the song is a first-person narrative relating the economic and social distress experienced by the protagonist, a poor white southerner, during the last year of the american civil war, when george stoneman was raiding southwest virginia. the song appeared at number 245 on "rolling stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
the night they drove old dixie down
hoskyns states that the song appears to be set in a "one-horse town" common to western movies, but that the "harvest moon" and riverside described in the lyrics place the song within the american south, like other songs from the album such as "the night they drove old dixie down" and "king harvest (has surely come)." the link with "the night they drove old dixie down" was emphasized in many concerts in which "across the great divide" was often played immediately following "the night they drove old dixie down." hoskyns also sees a link with "up on cripple creek," since "cripple creek" is also a "good ol' boy classic" narrated by a "devil-may-care drunkard." the reference to a harvest moon provides a more direct link to the theme of harvest which runs through "the band" and especially "king harvest (has surely come)," which is the last song on "the band" and so helps bring thematic unity to the album. to harris, this link helps define the journey undertaken in "the band", from the "idealism" of "across the great divide" to "stark reality" of "king harvest." ward describes the song as sounding "old as the hills," and representing what the band does best, creating a "rustic, down-home narrative coupled by organic, acoustic instrumentation." band organist garth hudson plays saxophone in addition to organ on the song.
across the great divide (the band song)