Testo Daddy's cub Drive-By Truckers

Daddy's cub

Before I could walk, I had a wrench in my hand
I was my Mama's little angel and my Daddy's second chance
He went end over end the first year he went pro
Lost part of his eyesight and he couldn't race no more
But he never lost his touch when he got underneath the hood
He knew how to make them run and he knew one day he would
See his name in victory lane and engraved on that cup
Just like all them other crazy fools with racing in their blood
He would put me on his lap when he'd drive and I'd take the wheelHe'd say "What do you think about that son? How does she feel?
You just wait till them little legs get long enough to reach the gas
Once you put her on the floor one time there ain't no turning back"
Every Saturday, he'd take me out to the garageHe'd take an empty bucket and fill it full of engine partsHe's sit me down and pour em out in front of me on the floorI'd have to tell him what each one was and what each one was forWe'd jump into the car and go down to the race that nightHe'd tell me what each driver was doing wrong and what each one did right
He could always pick the winner before they ever took a curve#3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve
Before I turned 18 Daddy said "Now pretty soonYou'll be old enough to drive but I'll leave it up to you
I taught you all about it, taught you everything I know
You gotta have a car to do it and you gotta work and buy your own"
The first one I bought was a Mustang #2Nobody kept'em any longer than they kept a pair of shoes
They started showing up at every used car lot in town
A V-8 on a go-cart, easy terms, no money down
Me and Daddy and my uncle took her home and tore her down
Checked her out real good, cleaned her up and bored her out
Took out all the seats, pulled the carpet off the floor
Knocked out all the glass and welded up the doors
The first time that I raced my qualifying was a shame
I started out way in the back and came back about the same
I pulled her in the pit, couldn't look my Daddy in the eye
He said "If you quit now son, it's gonna haunt you all your life"
It ain't about the money or even being #1You gotta know when it's all over you did the best you could've done
Knowing that it's in you and you never let it out
Is worse than blowing any engine or any wreck you'll ever have
Since then I've wrecked a bunch of cars and I've broke a bunch of bonesIt's anybody's race out there and I've learned to race my ownI'd shove em in the wall and I'd hit em from behindI'd let them know that I was there, I'd let them know that track was mineIt's been several years now since my Daddy passed away
But his picture's on my dash every time I go to race
I lost more than I won but I ain't gonna give up
Till they put me in the ground or Daddy's name's on that cup