When Jackson was only 12 years old, he began saving money for his dream car. After three years of hard work and sacrifice, he purchased a 1955 Ford Thunderbird convertible. It needed a lot of work, but that was no problem for Jackson. His father Gene was a car enthusiast and Ford mechanic, so they had no problem restoring the classic automobile.
Not Just Any Thunderbird
Like the story goes for so many aspiring musicians, success didn’t come right away. When the couple began planning for the future, Jackson made the tough decision to sell his beloved car so they could afford a down payment on a home.On that Christmas morning, as Jackson reminisced about his father and how they bonded over cars, his wife assured him it wasn’t just any Thunderbird.
“Still gives me chill bumps,” he told CBS while reflecting on the tender moment.
Unexpected Muse Inspires Tribute
In January 2002, Jackson released his 10th studio album, “Drive.” The title track remains one of his most popular singles, in part because it’s highly relatable. The song is about learning to drive—rite of passage in American culture—and the connective moments shared between parent and child during the process.
The song opens with Jackson thinking back to his father teaching him how to drive their plywood motorboat and short bed truck. For the bridge, he brings things full circle as he thinks about teaching his own daughters—Mattie, Alexandra, and Dani—how to drive.
A beautiful picture is painted by the end of the song with an important message. As many parents and children know, teaching someone how to drive and learning how to drive are no easy tasks. But Jackson helps listeners get to a deeper understanding of the milestone. These moments can seem routine, but they reveal greater forces at work in the rearview mirror of time.
Learning to drive creates an even deeper bond between teacher and student, and involves an important tradition, the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next for the order and thriving of community.
For the country singer, writing the title track involved more than a walk down memory lane. In 2000, Jackson’s father passed away. The singer-songwriter reminisced about the 1955 Thunderbird he and his father restored, which was parked in his garage again. The eventual No. 1 hit quickly turned into a tribute, “Drive (For Daddy Gene).”
Though the songs Jackson attempted to write for his late father were solemn at first, the T-Bird proved to be the muse he was looking for.
Timeless Bonds
In 2014, Jackson’s car was featured at the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit, “Alan Jackson: 25 Years of Keepin' it Country,” in honor of the performer and his influential body of work. Since the release of “Drive,” two of Jackson’s daughters, Matti and Alexandra, have had their own children. Someday, they’ll do what their father did and pass down the enduring tradition of learning how to drive to their own sons.
“There are few things so powerful as a man, his emotions, and a guitar,” Billboard pointed out while covering Jackson’s “Drive” album.
But the inspiration behind this title track in particular was powered by a Ford Y-block V8 engine, and the timeless bond between father and son, parent and child. These bonds are passed down through generations and transcend the wheel of time.
