Caleb Brown

(Album: Unreleased 3: Society's Child - 2001)

Caleb Brown was a mighty fine man
And his skin was the color of the good rich land
He bought a slope-eared mule named Dan
And broke a little piece of ground
Cleared the place with his own bare hands
Made cotton grow in the rocks and sand
Thought he'd found the promised land
'Til the soldiers came to town

Gather by the river
Light a fire in the old campground
Stand and deliver
They're burning Dixie down

Caleb Brown never took a side
Always hoped that the war would pass him by
Trouble came and he closed his eyes
Then he woke to the sound of the guns
They stole his chickens and the old milk cow
Left him nothing but a broken plow
He cried out "what can I do now
But to wait for the kingdom come?"

Gather by the river
Light a fire in the old campground
Stand and deliver
They're burning Dixie down

Was a war, was a mighty fine war
Was a war like the world never saw before
The only one not keeping score
Was a man named Caleb Brown
No one knows what his eyes have seen
How he washed his hands in a bloody stream
Buried all his hopes and dreams
Down in the cold, cold ground

Gather by the river
Light a fire in the old campground
Stand and deliver
They're burning Dixie down
They're burning Dixie down