Revisiting 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' by the Band. Any opinions? I think James Gleason nailed it in his Rolling Stone Review: Nothing I have read … has brought home the overwhelming human sense of history that this song does. The only thing I can relate it to at all is The Red Badge of Courage. It's a remarkable song, the rhythmic structure, the voice of Levon and the bass line with the drum accents and then the heavy close harmony of Levon, Richard and Rick in the theme, make it seem impossible that this isn't some traditional...