it's _the_ Robert E. Lee in the song. That's a _ship_ (a riverboat), not a Southern General that the song is referring to.
^^^^^ CB: As I say, I'm not good at catching and memorizing the words, although you did post the following ,which doesn't have "the Robert E. Lee" , but "robert e. lee".
Back with my wife in tennessee, When one day she called to me, Virgil, quick, come see, There goes robert e. lee! Now I don't mind choppin' wood, And I don't care if the money's no good. Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest, But they should never have taken the very best.
What was the "old dixie" they were drivin' down ? Sounds like a flag or something.
The night they drove old dixie down, And the bells were ringing, The night they drove old dixie down, And the people were singin'.
Jim D.: As for being nostalgic about Dixie, you have to admit that there were working-class Southern Whites who suffered when their states were (justifiably) smashed even though they themselves didn't own slaves. People defend "their" countries for lots of reasons without being complicit with the crimes of their leaders and their ruling classes.
Similarly, I don't think that pro-Bush USians are necessarily complicit with his crimes.
^^^^
CB: Yes, these matters are complex. What about the "good Germans" who defended their country ? I think the lesson we want to teach is that the working class Confederates, like the working class Germans in the Nazis era, made mistakes that we want the working class USians to learn from and not repeat.
As I say , I'm ain't mad at The Band
ARTIST: The Band TITLE: Up on Cripple Creek Lyrics and Chords
When I get off of this mountain You know where I want to go Straight down the Mississippi river To the Gulf of Mexico
/ A - / D - / A D / E - /
To Lake Charles, Louisiana Little Bessie, girl that I once knew And she told me just to come on by If there's anything she could do
{Refrain} Up on Cripple Creek she sends me If I spring a leak she mends me I don't have to speak she defends me A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
/ A - / D - / E - / F#m G - - /
Good luck had just stung me To the race track I did go She bet on one horse to win And I bet on another to show
Odds were in my favor I had him five to one When that nag to win came around the track Sure enough he had won
{Refrain}
I took up all of my winnings And I gave my little Bessie half And she tore it up and blew it in my face Just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world I sure would like to see That's when that little love of mine Dips her doughnut in my tea
{Refrain}
Now me and my mate were back at the shack We had Spike Jones on the box She said, "I can't take the way he sings But I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a fall To the bottom of my feet And I swore as I took another pour My Bessie can't be beat
{Refrain} Lo, lo, oo hoo...
Now, there's a flood out in California And up north it's freezing cold And this living off the road Is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama Tell her I'll be rolling in But you know, deep down, I'm kinda tempted To go and see my Bessie again
{Refrain} Lo, lo, oo hoo..