@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Was 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 and made for the water
Ran her for years, 'til the transom got rotten
A piece of my childhood it'll 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 make me feel
And I would turn her sharp
And I'd make it whine
He'd say, "You can't beat the way an old wood boat rides"
Just a little lake 'cross the Alabama line
But I was king of the ocean
When daddy let me drive
Just an old half ton, short bed Ford
My uncle bought new in '64
And daddy got it right 'cause the engine was smoking
Couple of burned valves and he had it going
He'd 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 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'd keep it right
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 'em drive my old Jeep 'cross 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 old floorboards, 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
She's just an old plywood boat
With a '75 Johnson with electric choke
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 and made for the water
Ran her for years, 'til the transom got rotten
A piece of my childhood it'll 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 make me feel
And I would turn her sharp
And I'd make it whine
He'd say, "You can't beat the way an old wood boat rides"
Just a little lake 'cross the Alabama line
But I was king of the ocean
When daddy let me drive
Just an old half ton, short bed Ford
My uncle bought new in '64
And daddy got it right 'cause the engine was smoking
Couple of burned valves and he had it going
He'd 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 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'd keep it right
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 'em drive my old Jeep 'cross 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 old floorboards, 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
She's just an old plywood boat
With a '75 Johnson with electric choke
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
don't particularyly care for country, in fact, i don't really like it. But this songs is cool
haha...my roommate used to blast thissong non-stop...i hated it the first, third, fortieth, ninety-second, and last time i heard it...it might be one of the 5 most obnoxious songs ever...
i love this song. I can so relate to it and i think a lot of people can.
That is the very same reason I like. Most should be able to relate to it. I don't think it's just about illegally advancing in clapped out vehicles.
This song has special meaning to me because it sounds like my dad. My dad is the one who taught all of his daughters (he has three :) to drive. If only Alan mentioned a Chevy instead of a Ford......
Same here txteacher, except for me it was a Ford, and it was my Grandpap, not my Dad. Either way, this song is so sweet, and I now have 2 daughters and a son (girls are 14 and 13, boy is 11) who sing this sing very loudly in the car when it comes on WKLB. They've already started to pester me about driving the car, and my son wants me to get a boat ^^.
it has a sorta special meaning to me for various reasons....but i love the song regardless....
This song is great. period. My dad let me drive he's truck down our little dirt road, and I think that this song is one of those 'remeber way back when' songs.
This song is so great because it is so relatable! Alan sings about the memories he had with his father and his daughters, who cannot relate to that? Even though we may not have been driving race cars, the feeling of driving for the first time will never be forgotten. We all can remember the first time that our Daddy let us drive...
This song reminds of when my dad took me out to the foresty center where i live and let drive for the first time without having to sit on his lap. It was sweet driving that 94 nissan pathfinder. He gave it to me last year, and I don't ever wanna give it up :)