Caleb Brown was a mighty fine man,
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 the sand.
Thought he'd found the promised land,
Till the soldiers came to town.

Gather by the river,
Light a fire in the old camp ground,
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,
Till 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 camp ground,
Stand and deliver,
They're burning Dixie down.
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Was a war, was a mighty fine war.
Was a war like the world never seen before.
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 camp ground,
Stand and deliver,
They're burning Dixie down.
Stand and deliver,
They're burning Dixie down.

CALEB BROWN
Written by: Janis Ian & Fred Koller
Performed by: Janis Ian
Appears on: Unreleased 3: Society's Child-20061.

1Transcribed from the track on this album.

Copyright © Janis Ian/her co-writer(s) if any/their publisher(s).
All rights reserved.