He began his adult life as a young preacher in Philadelphia, where he hosted a gospel radio show. In the 1960s, he signed with Atlantic Records and began moving towards more secular music. His first hit was Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms, a cover of a country song. Though well-received by both peers and critics, and attaining a few moderate pop and several major R&B hits, Burke never could quite break through into the mainstream as did his contemporaries like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.
Nevertheless, his emotive delivery, polished production, as well as the touches of country and pop sensibility in his music won him admirers and imitators. In 1964 he wrote and recorded Everybody Needs Somebody To Love his most prominent bid for an enduring soul standard. Covered by the Rolling Stones the same year, other well-known versions include one by Wilson Pickett and another a decade and a half later in the 1980 feature film by The Blues Brothers. Burke's biggest hit was a 1969 cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary.
His career was to some degree revived in 2002, with the release of the album Don't Give Up On Me, produced by Joe Henry, where he sang songs written specifically for the album by a roster of top-rank artists, including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and Joe Henry himself.
He is featured in the 2004 movie Lightning in a Bottle singing Turn on Your Love Light and Down in the Valley.
As of October 2002 Burke was the father of 14 daughters and 7 sons with 64 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Several of his children and grandchildren have had successful careers in various facets of the music industry, though none as much so as their patriarch.
Burke died, arriving at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam where he was supposed to perform with Dutch band De Dijk with whom he recorded an album, entitled Hold on Tight.
Rock icon Mick Jagger performed a tribute to Burke at the 2011 Grammy Awards, laying down Burke's classic hit "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love".
A cover of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love received huge exposure as the music for Amazon's 2019 Christmas commercial.
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Solomon Burke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and it tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the bells were ringing
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin'
They went
Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
"Say Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if my money's no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the bells were ringing
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin'
They went
Like my father before me, I will work the land
And like my brother up above me, who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet, you can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, when all the bells were ringing
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and you could hear 'm all singin'
They went
The song, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by Solomon Burke, is about the experience of a man from the South named Virgil Caine during the American Civil War. He was a conductor on the Danville train, until General Stoneman's cavalry came and destroyed the tracks. The song describes how Confederate soldiers were starving and barely alive during the winter of 1865. After months of battling, the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, ultimately fell on the 10th of May, which was a time that Virgil Caine would remember acutely.
The chorus of the song, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," talks about the fall of Richmond, and how the bells were ringing and people were singing in celebration of the Union victory. Virgil Caine is then seen returning home to Tennessee, where he hears news that Robert E. Lee, the commanding general of the Confederate Army, is on the move. He reflects on the fact that he doesn't mind working hard or that his money isn't valuable anymore - but the Yankees should never have taken away the very best from his beloved South.
Finally, the song states that Virgil Caine will work the land like his father before him and remembers his brother who died fighting for the South. He swears that once Dixie has fallen, it cannot be raised again, and the music emphasizes the emotion of the song.
Overall, the song conveys the loss and heartbreak felt by people in the South when the Confederacy fell, and the struggles they faced afterward.
Line by Line Meaning
Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train
I'm Virgil Caine and I used to work on the Danville train
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and it tore up the tracks again
Unfortunately, Stoneman's cavalry ripped up the tracks we worked so hard on
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
During the winter of 1865, we were quite hungry and struggling to survive
By May tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well
On May 10th, Richmond finally fell, a memory that's very vivid in my mind
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the bells were ringing
The night they took down the Confederacy, you could hear the bells ringing
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin'
On that same night, the people were singing with joy
Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
I was back in Tennessee with my wife when she called out to me one day
"Say Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
My wife pointed out Robert E. Lee, urging me to come see
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if my money's no good
I don't mind doing the simple work like chopping wood and money means nothing to me
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
Taking only what you need and leaving the rest behind is the way to go
But they should never have taken the very best
However, they should not have taken the most valuable things from us
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the bells were ringing
Again, the night the Confederacy was defeated, the bells were ringing out loud
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and all the people were singin'
And once more, the people were singing
Like my father before me, I will work the land
Following in my father's footsteps, I will farm the land
And like my brother up above me, who took a rebel stand
And like my brother, who fought for the Confederacy and passed away
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave
He was just 18, full of pride and bravery, but sadly lost his life at the hands of a Union soldier
I swear by the mud below my feet, you can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat
I firmly believe that once a Caine is defeated, there's no bringing them back to their former glory
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, when all the bells were ringing
Yes, it was that night they took down the Confederacy, with the bells ringing once again
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and you could hear 'm all singin'
And once more, you could hear everyone singing in celebration
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Robbie Robertson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind