My Mule

My Mule

What is it 'bout a pickup
That gets into a country boy's heart?
Heck I wasn't even ten back then
But I wanted one from the start

The first one I ever owned
Was a once-blue GMC
The beds were floored with oak
Back in nineteen fifty three

I confess that ol’ Jimmy of mine
Was given it’s own name
I simply called her Mule
Respectin’ her half-ton frame

She was rusty and neglected
When I got 'er in sixty four
Her paint was bare, tires tired
Starter switch on the floor

Time I’d saved enough money
I was a full seventeen years
On days I drove her to school
From the hot rod boys I got jeers

But man she ran good
That husky old straight six
Sure she burned a little oil
But her wheels were certainly kicks

I finally had me a pickup truck
The fulfillment of my cravin’
I never once questioned that
She was worth all the years of savin'

When it came to her tranny
She had three on the tree
Springs poppin’ through upholstery
Clutch was kinda' hard on the knee

The driver’s side window
Wouldn’t crank up or down
Had to reach through the wind-wing
For signalin’ when in town

To make sure the door was latched
You generally slammed her twice
But the heater really worked
Which, on winter morn’s, was nice.

Down by the accelerator
The floor mat was quite worn
Over on the passenger side
The headliner was badly torn.

The right front fender was bent
Behind the headlight was a hole
From comin’ out on the losin’ end
Of a tussle with a telephone pole

But my sweetie really liked ol’ Mule
When I first took her for a ride
We drove behind the mercantile
It was the neckin’ place we’d hide

One Sunday behind that barn
With m’sweetie standin’ in the bed
I boldly dropped to my right knee
And proposed my love to wed

Many trucks have come and gone
Since my first tailgate affair
Chevys, Fords or International
But none of 'em heart-wise compare.

Oh my newest F-150 has stuff that
In the sixties I’d’a never thought
Like backseats, GPS or telephones
Ten speed trannies and whatnot

All them since Mule of course
Have been a more comfortable ride
But she’ll always be my first truck
And where m’sweetie became my bride