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 on 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 smoking 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