It was painted red the stripe was white
It was eighteen feet from 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, made for the water
Ran it 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 seventy five 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
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 sixty four
Daddy got it right cause the engine was smoking
A couple of burnt valves and he had it going
He 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 stretch my feet out to the pedals
Smiling like a hero that just received his medal
It was just an old handmedown Ford
With a threespeed 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 the clutch
And I'd 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 the old memory
And think of me and smile and say
It was just an old worn out Jeep
Rusty old 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 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 seventy five Johnson with electric choke
With a seventy five Johnson with electric choke