# Downloads of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down are on the rise **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261 "2015-06-23T17:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/41 "2015-06-24T20:14:25Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > ITunes reports that downloads of the Band’s original version and Joan Baez’s cover of the song are at an all time high. Well, I can certainly understand the desire of the rightwing to funnel more money to the notoriously conservative Joan Baez. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/42 "2015-06-24T20:24:37Z")
How are sales of Lynyrd Skynyrd albums doing? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/43 "2015-06-24T20:29:49Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > THAT would be _Southern Man_. Oh Alabama. The devil fools with the best laid plan. You got the rest of the union to help you along. What’s going wrong? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/44 "2015-06-24T20:40:04Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He sang it. Robbie Robertson wrote it. Okay. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/45 "2015-06-24T21:06:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yes, but you have to ask WHY the flag was mounted in such a way that it couldn’t be easily raised and lowered – that was a deliberate choice. Generally, when you buy a flagpole, it comes with the raised/lowering mechanism. They went out of their way to get one you couldn’t lower without a major effort. > > Then, of course, they compounded this by requiring an act of the legislature in order to take the flag down. > > This wasn’t by accident – the South Carolina legislators wanted to send the message that _The Confederate Flag Stays UP, regardless what happens_. > > They didn’t foresee the fiasco that occurred when some racial incident that required other flags to go to half-staff couldn’t be implemented on the confederate flag. It’s locked to the top because it’s the target of vandalism attempts. To nobody’s particular surprise. The fight that resulted in the compromise of putting it there instead of flying from the dome was a very, very nasty one. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/46 "2015-06-24T21:30:31Z")
To me, the definitive version is from the Last Waltz. The Baez version is utterly devoid of passion and soul. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/47 "2015-06-24T21:42:25Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > To me, the definitive version is from the Last Waltz. The Baez version is utterly devoid of passion and soul. Plus, the gender discontinuity of the first person narrative is disharmonious. “Virgil Kane is my name.” But it’s a girl singing! Why is a girl named Virgil? What does it MEAN? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/48 "2015-06-25T00:18:00Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Plus, the gender discontinuity of the first person narrative is disharmonious. > > “Virgil Kane is my name.” But it’s a girl singing! Why is a girl named Virgil? What does it MEAN? I believe Joan Baez was singing for her husband who was in jail. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/49 "2015-06-25T09:56:32Z")
The Night they Drove Ole Dixie down commemorates the defeat of the Confederacy. Which by extension means the the defeat of slavery. Union General George Stoneman and Stoneman’s 1863 Raid are real historical events. > **[Stoneman's 1863 raid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneman%27s_1863_Raid)** > > Stoneman's raid was a cavalry operation led by General George Stoneman during the Chancellorsville Campaign that preceded the start of the Battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War. > In April 1863, Major General Joseph Hooker put his army in motion to force Lee out of his Fredericksburg positions. He sent Major General George Stoneman's 10,000-strong cavalry to move between Lee and the Confederate capital, Richmond. Hooker expected Stoneman to sever Lee's line of supply by destroying t... > **[George Stoneman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stoneman)** > > George Stoneman Jr. (August 8, 1822 – September 5, 1894) was a United States Army cavalry officer and politician who served as the fifteenth governor of California from 1883 to 1887. > Stoneman trained at West Point, graduating in 1846, and served in the U.S. Army for 36 years. He was involved in multiple conflicts, including the Mexican–American War, the Yuma War, and the American Civil War. In 1861, Stoneman was promoted to Brigadier General, and was later put in command of the Army of the Potom... Why is loving this song considered an issue? It’s the best song ever recorded by The Band. imho [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1106](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1106) > [@](#): > > Baez changed some of the lyrics on her version. For example, she sings, “Virgil Cain is my name and I drove on the Danville train. 'Til so much cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.” The original lyrics are, “Virgil Cain is THE name and I SERVED on the Danville train. 'Til STONEMAN’S cavalry came and tore up the tracks again” referring to George Stoneman, who was a general in the Union army). There are several other inconsistencies between her version and The Band’s original, including changing the line, “There goes Robert E. Lee” to “There goes THE Robert E. Lee” (which is a boat). (thanks, Geoffrey - Fort Collins, CO) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/50 "2015-06-25T12:06:41Z")
- I want to go back to Dixie, Take me back to dear ol’ Dixie, That’s the only li’l ol’ place for li’l ol’ me. Old times there are not forgotten, Whuppin’ slaves and sellin’ cotton, And waitin’ for the Robert E. Lee. (It was never there on time.)\* ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/51 "2015-06-25T13:14:55Z")
I don’t remember all the lyrics anymore and they may be a bit out of order, but some went like so: It’s the same old South-, It’s a regular children’s heaven, where they don’t get to work 'till they’re seven. It’s the same old South. It’s the same old South, with it’s old-fasioned get-togethers. Colonel, pass me the tar and the feathers. It’s the same old South. There’s no gate to stop you, when you bid the folks ‘hello.’ There’s not gate to stop for it dropeed off, 20 or 30 years ago. Honey, hush my mouth. Let the Northerners keep Niagra. We’ll stick to our 7th pellagra. (?) It’s the same old South. It’s the same old South. The bloodhounds that once chased Liza, now chase the (union?) organizer. It’s the same old south! ---
**Author:** ![Cold\_Dish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cold\_Dish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cold_Dish)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/52 "2015-06-25T14:18:58Z")
Was it at half-staff after 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/53 "2015-06-25T16:59:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Thanks all … > > I knew the basic facts about the shooting. I never heard about the rest of the brouhaha because I explicitly ignore anything involving a media circus. > > What the heck will it take before we decide to all just get along? Sometimes what looks like “a media circus” is actually the entire fucking nation, all its citizens and leaders and everyone, all getting into a heated debate over a contentious topic in the context of current events. What the heck will it take before you decide to start paying attention to what’s going on under your nose? I mean, this is like someone living in Britain in 1915 saying, "I know the basic facts about the assassination of [Archduke Franz Ferdinand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria), but I ignored the rest of the [brouhaha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_I)happening since then … " ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/54 "2015-06-25T17:43:34Z")
> [@Cold\_Dish](#): > > Was it at half-staff after 9/11? I really don’t think it actually can be at half staff. It hasn’t got the rope or chain other flagpoles have. It’s, shall we say shackled? to the top of the pole. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/55 "2015-06-25T17:52:02Z")
It occurs to me that no longer being the flag of a nation, but as an artifact, it should not be treated as one. While it offends some people, it is like a picture on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/56 "2015-06-25T20:18:56Z")
It never was the flag of a nation. It was a flag used during battle–the ickier part of the rebellion, the standard flown under which people fought to the death to preserve their legal right to own other humans. The Confederate Battle Flag is to The Confederate States Of America what a Swastika banner would have been to the Third Reich. It’s a symbol to rally support around. It’s origin has beans to do with pride in…whatever it is Southerners feel sets them apart from the rest of their fellow Americans, and everything to do with the worst of their heritage. As an artifact or a picture on a wall, I suppose it’s no more harmful than a dotingly preserved image of der Fuhrer. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261/57 "2015-06-25T21:23:48Z")
Well, there you go. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloads-of-the-night-they-drove-old-dixie-down-are-on-the-rise/723261.md?page=2)