Alan Jackson - Drive (For Daddy Gene)

It was painted red the stripe was white


It was 18 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


We 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 will never be forgoten





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 made me feel


And I would turn her sharp


And I would make it whine


He'd say, "You can't beat the way a old wood boat rides"


Just a little lake cross 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


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 Thickpen Road


I'd sit up in the seat and stretch my feet out to the pedels


Smiling like a hero who just received his medal





It was just an old hand me down ford


With 3 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 would keep it right


He would say a little slower son


Your 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


3 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


And electric choke