God Bless Robert E. Lee

When Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy
Jefferson Davis was upset about it
He said, “How dare that man resent an order
From the president of the Confederate States of America”
And then somebody told him that General Lee
Had made the decision himself in order to save lives
Because he felt that the battle comin’ up
Would cost about 20,000 lives on both sides
And he said, “240, 000 dead already is enough”

So this song is not about the North or the South
But about the bloody brother war
Brother against brother
Father against son
The war that nobody won
And for all those lives that were saved
I gotta say, “God bless Robert E. Lee”

Well, the mansion where the General
Used to live is burning down
Cotton fields are blue with Sherman’s troops
I overheard a Yankee say, “Yesterday Nashville fell”
So I’m on my way to join the fight
General Lee might need my help

But look away, look away Dixie
I don’t want them to see
What they’re doing to my Dixie
God bless Robert E. Lee

Sherman’s troops burned Atlanta
And the flames lit up the sky
And those of us who survived it
Are watchin’ my Dixie die
But today at Appomattox
General Lee sat down
And surrendered to the Yankees
And Ulysses S. Grant

So look away, look away Dixie
I don’t want them to see
What they’re doing to my Dixie
God bless Robert E. Lee

I won’t ever stop loving you, my Dixie
‘Til they put me in the ground
And the last words they probably hear from me
Are “God bless Robert E. Lee”