G
It was painted red
D
The stripe was white
        C
It was eighteen feet from bow to stern light
G                     D
Second hand, from a dealer in Atlanta
   C
I rode up with daddy when he went there to get her
G              D
Put on a shine, put on a motor
C
Built out of love and made for water
G                             D
Ran her for years, til' the transom got rotten
   C                           C
A piece of my childhood that'll never be forgotten

      G              D
It was just an old plywood boat
        C
With a seventy-five Johnson, and electric choke
G                D
A young boy two hands on the wheel
C
I can't replace the way it made me feel
        G                           D
I would turn her sharp and I would make it wide
     C
He'd say you can't be the way a old wood boat rides
Em                            A
Just a little lake 'cross the Alabama line
           C                D
But I was king of the ocean
                 G      D  C  D
When daddy let me drive

G                      D
Just an old half-ton short bed Ford
    C
My uncle bought new in sixty-four
G                            D
Daddy got it right cause the engine was smoking
C
A couple of burnt valves and he got it goin'
G                               D
He'd let me drive her and we'd haul off a load
        C
Down a dirt strip where we'd dump trash

Off of Thigpen road
     G                                D
I'd sit up in the seat and stretch my feet out to the pedals
  C
Smiling like a hero

Who just received his medal

       G             D
It was just an old hand-me down Ford
          C
With a three speed on the column and a dent in the door
G                D
A young boy two hands on the wheel
C
I can't replace the way it made me feel
           G                         D
And I would press that clutch and I'd keep it right
            C
And he'd say a little slower son

You're doin' just fine
Em                      A
Just a dirt road with trash on each side
          C
But I was Mario Andretti
D                 G
When daddy let me drive

G D C D x2 D

G
I'm grown up now
        D
Three daughters of my own
   C
I let 'em drive my old jeep

'Cross the pasture at our home
G                       D
Maybe one day they'll reach back in their file
     C
And pull out that old memory
      C
And think of me and smile

And say

G                   D
It was just an old worn out jeep
C
Rusty old floor boards

Hot on my feet
G                 D
A young girl two hands on the wheel
C
I can't replace the way it made me feel
             G                 D
And he'd say turn it left and steer it right
   C
Straighten up girl, your doing just fine
Em
Just a little valley by the river where we'd ride
            C                D
But I was high on a mountain
                   G
When daddy let me drive
D              C   D
Daddy let me drive
           G     D  C  D
Oh he let me drive

G                D
She's just old plywood boat
         C
With a seventy-five Johnson
                    G
With electric choke