Drive (For Daddy Gene)

Album: Drive (2002)
Charted: 28
Play Video
  • It's painted red, the stripe was white
    It was eighteen feet from the bow to the stern light
    Second hand from a dealer in Atlanta
    I rode up with Daddy when he went there to get her
    Put on a shine, put on a motor
    Built out of love and made for the water
    Ran her for years, 'til the transom got rotten
    A piece of my childhood it'll never be forgotten

    It was just an old plywood boat
    With a '75 Johnson with electric choke
    A young boy, two hands on the wheel
    I can't replace the way it make me feel
    And I would turn her sharp
    And I'd make her whine
    He'd say, "You can't beat the way an old wood boat rides
    Just a little lake across the Alabama line"
    But I was king of the ocean
    When Daddy let me drive

    Just an old half ton, short bed Ford
    My uncle bought new in '64
    And daddy got it right 'cause the engine was smoking
    Couple of burned valves and he had it going
    He'd let me drive her, we'd haul off a load
    Down a dirt strip where we'd dump trash off of Thigpen Road
    I'd sit up in the seat and stretch my feet out to the pedals
    Smiling like a hero that just received his medal

    It was just an old hand me down Ford
    With three speed on the column and a dent in the door
    A young boy, two hands on the wheel
    I can't replace the way it made me feel
    And I would press that clutch
    And I'd keep it right
    He'd say, "A little slower son, you're doing just fine"
    Just a dirt road with trash on each side
    But I was Mario Andretti
    When Daddy let me drive

    I'm grown up now, three daughters of my own
    I let 'em drive my old Jeep 'cross the pasture at our home
    Maybe one day they'll reach back in their file
    And pull out that old memory
    And think of me and smile, and say

    It was just an old worn out Jeep
    Rusty old floorboards, hot on my feet
    A young girl, two hands on the wheel
    I can't replace the way it made me feel
    And he'd say, "Turn it left and steer it right
    Straighten up girl, now you're doing just fine"
    Just a little valley by the river where we'd ride
    But I was high on a mountain
    When Daddy let me drive

    When Daddy let me drive
    Oh, he let me drive

    She's just an old plywood boat
    With a '75 Johnson with electric choke Writer/s: Alan Jackson
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Darrell from EugeneIn the video, the "Jeep" is actually a pre-1971 Ford Bronco. Maybe Alan was too stingy to pay royalties to Chrysler just so he could drive a real Jeep without pixellating the (trademarked) grille out.
  • Forrest from Los Angeles, CaAlan's wife Denise convinced him to rewrite the ending and include Alan's experience with his own daughters.
see more comments

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