The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

I don't know how you can interpret this song as anything other than a southerner singing it. "...I drove on the Danville Train". The Danville Train was the main supply line to Richmond. "In the winter of '65 we were hungry, just barely alive; by May the 10th when Richmond had fell ..." <br /> Clearly they are some down and out Confederates in the final days of the war.<br /> <br /> Robertson had to have known how to write music before The Last Waltz. He gets the writing credit for almost all their songs on their prior albums. <br /> <br /> I read where Robertson had this melody in his mind for years, finally hit upon this story, did a little research where he no doubt learned about Stoneman, etc, then wrote the song. Not sure if Levon contributed to the lyrics or just proofread as someone has suggested.

The reason Robertson is listed as the sole writer for this and many other Band songs is that he was the only one with the sense and foresight to copyright the songs himself. He put money before music, screwing over those with the real talent. That is why The Band broke up in '76. My claim is validated by the fact that Robertson was not invited join the group when they reunited in '83.

Robbie Robertson, a very pretentious person whom I do not like, DID in fact write this song. Even Levon said as much in his autobiography. Levon told Robbie about this story and Robbie wrote this song about it. He actually composed it on piano.<br /> <br /> I'm not sure where you got your info regarding Robertson not learning to write music until after The Last Waltz - he wrote most of The Band's songs right from the first album onward. The controversy between Robbie and the rest of The Band (especially Levon) is that the other bandmates feel they should have at least received co-writing credits on many of their songs. Robbie is listed as the sole writer on many songs that the others say they contributed significantly.

First off a clarification: Yes, Robertson is a vicious prick. Yes he is Canadian. Contrary to popular opinion we are not all nice, just like all Americans arent fat and dumb. <br /> <br /> Yes he did fuck over his band-mates and they did resent him for it. Levon had to play and record music pretty much right up until his death to pay his medical bills. Ironic because if HE were Canadian, it would all have been covered. <br /> <br /> Robertson did write a great deal of the music for The Band. I dont know where the idea came from that he didnt know how to write music until around the time of this recording. That just isnt true. Off all the former Band members, he had the most successful solo career by far. <br /> <br /> What many other song writers do is include the other members of the band with song writing credit when they tweak a song or make suggestions. Robertson did not. Some bands today, like U2 for example, just credit the whole band on every song.<br /> <br /> A Canadian can write the music about the Civil War. When you think about it, most people that write songs about specific wars werent in them.