Drive (For Daddy Gene)

It's painted red, the stripe was white It was eighteen feet, from the bow to stern light Secondhand, 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, made for the water Ran her for years, 'til the transom got rotten A piece of my childhood, will never be forgoten It was, just an old plywood boat A '75 Johnson with electric choke A young boy two hands on the wheel I can't replace the way it made me feel And I would turn her sharp And I would make it 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 shortbed Ford My uncle bought new, in '64 Daddy got it right, 'cause the engine was smoking A couple of burnt valves, and he had it going He'd let me drive her when we 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 pedels 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 And I would press that clutch And I would, 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 them drive my old jeep Across 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 floor boards 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 Daddy let me drive Oh he let me, drive It's just an old plywood boat With a '75 Johnson With electric choke