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The "Historical Inaccuracies" section of this article pointed out two flaws in the song's narrative from a historical standpoint. Someone erased this, leaving only the note on the page history that it was "irrelevant." If the song was so important in the sense that it reflected a historical event, it would seem VERY RELEVANT to the article to point out factual errors. I'm not sure why this was erased, but it really ought to be put back. -- Ironchef8000 ( talk) 05:34, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
The photo of the rail line at Petersburg is very inaccurately captioned. That is a Federal mortar, on a Federal track. Not Confederate. In fact it has very little connection to the song at all, other than also being from the Civil War.-- Caswain01 ( talk) 20:59, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
I just listened five times to this passage from the original Band recording of the song and it seems clear to me that he is saying "...there goes the Robert E. Lee..."
Additionally, I learned this song from the official Band songbook for the album and, though I do not have that in front of me, I certainly learned it as "...the Robert E. Lee..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dogmo1001 ( talk • contribs) 23:32, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
I noticed the same thing, and it seems the reference is to the "Robert E. Lee" steamboat, which would have been on the Mississippi after 1870.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee_%28steamboat%29
Bbcrane54 (
talk)
20:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Not only are the lyrics "the Robert E. Lee", but also the intent around historical timing of the lyric is not wrong. It states "Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me". This clearly means after the war and near the Mississippi river where the protagonist of the lyric most certainly could have seen the steamboat the Robert E. Lee. Please correct. Stating that this lyric is historically impossible is wrong.
Chamr1 (
talk)
09:27, 7 January 2011 (UTC)
In my opinion this line is a reference to the historic steamboat race between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez in 1870.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee_%28steamboat%29#History
This would put the timespan of the song from just before 1865 through just after 1870. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
LIsbethKellogg (
talk •
contribs)
18:59, 27 May 2011 (UTC)
The Robert E. Lee was a steamboat built in 1866, so Robertson's reference - if it is to the ship - would be an anachronism. So "the" is either a mistake in that regard or a word that was added for the additional beat (still making no sense). But surely it would have nothing to do with the later race (1870). Allreet ( talk) 16:47, 2 September 2019 (UTC)
What is "Old Dixie" and what is meant by driving it down? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.237.86.175 ( talk) 10:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
I'm not an expert but I think Dixie refers to the Southern U.S. in general, or more specifically the Confederate States of America in the U.S. Civil War. "Drove Down" simply is a figure of speach for the North conquering it. Wyldkat
Also not an expert but I've never had any doubt that the "Old Dixie" being driven down was the Stars and Bars flag of the Confederacy. Else, why would it be "the night" that it was driven down. If Robertson had been referring to the Reconstruction-era abuse or neglect of the former Confederate states, I doubt seriously he would have localized the time to one specific night.
Dogmo1001 (
talk)
16:48, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
Reference #3 is to another Wikipedia article. Is this a proper reference? Cousin Ricky ( talk) 15:28, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
"The song's lyric refers to conditions in the Southern states in the winter of early 1865 ("We were hungry / Just barely alive"); the Confederacy is starving and on the verge of defeat."
The south had been defeated 6 months prior to the winter of 1865. Assuming that this was not just a mistake on The Band's part, this particular line is referring to the the time after the war was over. 69.138.223.87 ( talk) 16:38, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
It means january 1865 which the last time I looked was a winter month. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.81.88.114 ( talk) 20:47, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
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Why is there no discussion of the fact that this song (which I have to listen to every time I go to the grocery store) is racist, pro-slavery, pro-Confederacy propaganda. How on earth could Joan Baez of all people have sung it? 71.81.88.114 ( talk) 20:50, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
How it the song racist? Against what race? He only talks about 4 people, His wife, his father, his brother and a yankee. The reference to Robert E Lee is to the steamboat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.209.25.58 ( talk) 04:34, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
It does use "Dixie," the pet name, so to speak, of the Confederacy, so it would not be a stretch to infer it might be "pro-Confederate." And it seems to be lamenting the fall of the Confederacy as the larger message. Additionally, when black people hear people use the word Dixie their guard seems to go up (rightly so, I'd say), because that seems to be a red flag that the person is still fighting that war and may hope there had been a different outcome. However, with all that said, one must remember that artists are often telling the stories of the world from a perspective not necessarily their own. Stephen King is not a kidnapper or murderer or monster, yet writes books about those things. GTGeek88 ( talk) 00:08, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
What was the significance of the Na-na-na? Valetude ( talk) 23:00, 7 January 2019 (UTC)
I don't know what the significance is, if any, but you can look at if this way (from a quote here on Wikipedia about September by Earth, Wind, and Fire): "Using a chord progression written by Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Al McKay, vocalist Maurice White and songwriter Allee Willis wrote the song over one month. Willis was initially bothered by the gibberish "ba-dee-ya" lyric White used through the song, and begged him to rewrite it: "I just said, 'What the fuck does 'ba-dee-ya' mean?' And he essentially said, 'Who the fuck cares?' I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove." GTGeek88 ( talk) 23:58, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
In the Other versions section, there is a very long sentence listing other artists who have recorded it. But it ends saying ‘have included it on live albums’. Which of those listed, other than Zac Brown? Clarity please, as it reads badly right now. Boscaswell talk 03:43, 20 February 2022 (UTC)
The NPR program "On the Media" on 6 July 2024 had a long program about the song. Kdammers ( talk) 18:59, 6 July 2024 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1 |
This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
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|
The "Historical Inaccuracies" section of this article pointed out two flaws in the song's narrative from a historical standpoint. Someone erased this, leaving only the note on the page history that it was "irrelevant." If the song was so important in the sense that it reflected a historical event, it would seem VERY RELEVANT to the article to point out factual errors. I'm not sure why this was erased, but it really ought to be put back. -- Ironchef8000 ( talk) 05:34, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
The photo of the rail line at Petersburg is very inaccurately captioned. That is a Federal mortar, on a Federal track. Not Confederate. In fact it has very little connection to the song at all, other than also being from the Civil War.-- Caswain01 ( talk) 20:59, 26 October 2010 (UTC)
I just listened five times to this passage from the original Band recording of the song and it seems clear to me that he is saying "...there goes the Robert E. Lee..."
Additionally, I learned this song from the official Band songbook for the album and, though I do not have that in front of me, I certainly learned it as "...the Robert E. Lee..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dogmo1001 ( talk • contribs) 23:32, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
I noticed the same thing, and it seems the reference is to the "Robert E. Lee" steamboat, which would have been on the Mississippi after 1870.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee_%28steamboat%29
Bbcrane54 (
talk)
20:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Not only are the lyrics "the Robert E. Lee", but also the intent around historical timing of the lyric is not wrong. It states "Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me". This clearly means after the war and near the Mississippi river where the protagonist of the lyric most certainly could have seen the steamboat the Robert E. Lee. Please correct. Stating that this lyric is historically impossible is wrong.
Chamr1 (
talk)
09:27, 7 January 2011 (UTC)
In my opinion this line is a reference to the historic steamboat race between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez in 1870.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee_%28steamboat%29#History
This would put the timespan of the song from just before 1865 through just after 1870. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
LIsbethKellogg (
talk •
contribs)
18:59, 27 May 2011 (UTC)
The Robert E. Lee was a steamboat built in 1866, so Robertson's reference - if it is to the ship - would be an anachronism. So "the" is either a mistake in that regard or a word that was added for the additional beat (still making no sense). But surely it would have nothing to do with the later race (1870). Allreet ( talk) 16:47, 2 September 2019 (UTC)
What is "Old Dixie" and what is meant by driving it down? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.237.86.175 ( talk) 10:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
I'm not an expert but I think Dixie refers to the Southern U.S. in general, or more specifically the Confederate States of America in the U.S. Civil War. "Drove Down" simply is a figure of speach for the North conquering it. Wyldkat
Also not an expert but I've never had any doubt that the "Old Dixie" being driven down was the Stars and Bars flag of the Confederacy. Else, why would it be "the night" that it was driven down. If Robertson had been referring to the Reconstruction-era abuse or neglect of the former Confederate states, I doubt seriously he would have localized the time to one specific night.
Dogmo1001 (
talk)
16:48, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
Reference #3 is to another Wikipedia article. Is this a proper reference? Cousin Ricky ( talk) 15:28, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
"The song's lyric refers to conditions in the Southern states in the winter of early 1865 ("We were hungry / Just barely alive"); the Confederacy is starving and on the verge of defeat."
The south had been defeated 6 months prior to the winter of 1865. Assuming that this was not just a mistake on The Band's part, this particular line is referring to the the time after the war was over. 69.138.223.87 ( talk) 16:38, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
It means january 1865 which the last time I looked was a winter month. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.81.88.114 ( talk) 20:47, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 15:00, 9 December 2017 (UTC)
Why is there no discussion of the fact that this song (which I have to listen to every time I go to the grocery store) is racist, pro-slavery, pro-Confederacy propaganda. How on earth could Joan Baez of all people have sung it? 71.81.88.114 ( talk) 20:50, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
How it the song racist? Against what race? He only talks about 4 people, His wife, his father, his brother and a yankee. The reference to Robert E Lee is to the steamboat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.209.25.58 ( talk) 04:34, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
It does use "Dixie," the pet name, so to speak, of the Confederacy, so it would not be a stretch to infer it might be "pro-Confederate." And it seems to be lamenting the fall of the Confederacy as the larger message. Additionally, when black people hear people use the word Dixie their guard seems to go up (rightly so, I'd say), because that seems to be a red flag that the person is still fighting that war and may hope there had been a different outcome. However, with all that said, one must remember that artists are often telling the stories of the world from a perspective not necessarily their own. Stephen King is not a kidnapper or murderer or monster, yet writes books about those things. GTGeek88 ( talk) 00:08, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
What was the significance of the Na-na-na? Valetude ( talk) 23:00, 7 January 2019 (UTC)
I don't know what the significance is, if any, but you can look at if this way (from a quote here on Wikipedia about September by Earth, Wind, and Fire): "Using a chord progression written by Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Al McKay, vocalist Maurice White and songwriter Allee Willis wrote the song over one month. Willis was initially bothered by the gibberish "ba-dee-ya" lyric White used through the song, and begged him to rewrite it: "I just said, 'What the fuck does 'ba-dee-ya' mean?' And he essentially said, 'Who the fuck cares?' I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove." GTGeek88 ( talk) 23:58, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
In the Other versions section, there is a very long sentence listing other artists who have recorded it. But it ends saying ‘have included it on live albums’. Which of those listed, other than Zac Brown? Clarity please, as it reads badly right now. Boscaswell talk 03:43, 20 February 2022 (UTC)
The NPR program "On the Media" on 6 July 2024 had a long program about the song. Kdammers ( talk) 18:59, 6 July 2024 (UTC)