The Post That Drove Old Dixie Down
There was an interesting but overheated discussion at “Edge of the West” of a beloved piece of classic rock, The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” There was contextualizin’ and politicizin’ a-plenty, and I made the following remarks way, way down in the comments:
Sorry I saw this late. I love “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” dearly, and hearing the Band’s searing, lumpy original version after growing up with the dopey, slick Joan Baez sing-along on AM radio was a formative musical experience for me: it just illustrated the difference between original popular art and dumbed-down music industry pablum. (Also, the correct lyrics actually told a story that made sense.)
That said, Robbie Robertson’s lyrics for that song and several of the others on “The Band” and “Stage Fright” partook of a fairly naive infatuation with Confederate/white southern Americana that was common in the counter culture and its offshoots circa 1969 (and after). Whilst heading back to nature and making laid-back country-rock, they loved them their doomed outlaws and rebels back in those days, and with less historical insight than we might like, the hippie songwriters and screenwriters tended to think they identified with the poor Confederate soldier, especially if he turned “social bandit” after the war. Even in the dark, revisionist westerns they turned out, the good guys were almost always ex-Confederates, just like John Wayne and Randolph Scott had always been. Blue uniforms were only seen sacking Indian villages and southern farms.
I would say it is to Robbie Robertson’s credit that, unlike a number of left-wing historians of that day, he wrote his elegiac ballad about Confederate cannon fodder rather than, say, a revanchist thug like Jesse James.
—————-
Now playing: The Band – Rockin’ Chair
via FoxyTunes
Thanks for your thoughtful note, which gets I think just the right shade of gray. I was surprised at the flow of discussion generated by what was little more than a pendant to Coates’ post — no doubt there have been other spinoffs.
Comment by Vance Maverick — August 21, 2009 @ 8:44 am
After reading your comment, my mind wandered to Dixie. I think it’s still conflated with Confederate nationalism, slavery, and blackface in U.S. historical consciousness. But the instrumental version has been gaining more of a following in recent years (still creates racial fissures, though).
Comment by serofriend — August 21, 2009 @ 1:09 pm
I am not sure I could stick up for “Dixie,” though I guess it’s better if they drop the words. “Old times there are not forgotten” can’t really mean anything but the antebellum or pre-Civil Rights racial regime, can it? Someone might claim it refers just to eating collard greens or cheese grits as a kid back in Alabama (or some such), but I submit they would be kidding themselves, at best. I remember feeling weird about learning “Dixie” (unironically and w/o historical context)as a grade school kid in Kentucky in the early 70s. Only figured out just why later.
Comment by Jeff Pasley — August 21, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
Yeah, I grew up in Arkansas in the late 60s/early 70s & we sang it every day in “music class” too. In 1970 black students at the UA finally managed to make the band stop playing it at Football games. there was a local band, a kind of super-provocative Zappa-esque western swing band that used to throw the melody into an instumental break in “Stay all Night (Stay a Little Longer)” -sadly to great applause up to a decade after.
Comment by URK — August 21, 2009 @ 10:22 pm
Comment by порно онлайн бесплатно — November 11, 2009 @ 3:42 am
It is the “Ten-Year Rule”, the outstanding performance does not happen without exceptional effort states. The research shows that it takes about 10 years of tireless efforts every day to achieve the technical mastery. Also, natural gifts and talents are useless without a concerted effort to develop it. This 10-year rule applies in sport, business, music, etc. true
Comment by rüyada görmek — August 4, 2011 @ 2:42 pm
It takes the same amount is too large, as it has to be mediocre at work. The secret lies in how you channel your energies where you direct your focus.
Comment by dini videolar — August 4, 2011 @ 2:43 pm