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Drive
Alan Jackson
Written by Alan Jackson
(© ASCAP.)
From "Drive", © 2002,
Arista Nashville
It was painted red, the stripe was white.
It was eighteen feet
From the bow to the 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, made for the water.
Ran her for years, 'til the transom got rotten;
A piece of my childhood
That will 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 made me feel.
And I would turn her sharp,
And I would 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 shortbed Ford,
My uncle bought new in '64.
Daddy got it right,
'Cause the engine was smokin':
A couple of burnt valves and he had it going.
He let me drive her when 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 a 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 would keep it right.
And 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 floorboard, 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, 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."
Oh, when daddy let me drive.
Oh, he let me drive.
Daddy let me drive.
It's just an old plywood boat,
With a '75 Johnson with electric choke.
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