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, made for the water
Ran her for years, till the transom got rotten
A piece of my childhood will never be forgotten

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 make 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 smoking
Couple of burned valves and he had it going
He let me drive here when we´d haul off a load
Down a dirt strip where we´d dump trash off of Thigpen Road
Sit up in the weat 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 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
To let them drive my old Jeep across a pasture in 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

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 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
Daddy let me drive

It´s just an old plywood boat
With a ´75 Johnson with electric choke