E
Well now Charlene McKenzie was a certified beauty
      A
And I thought it was my patriotic duty
   E                                        B7
To teach her things like neckin’, yeah, and drivin’ an automobile
    E
Now Charlene McKenzie while prettier than most
       A
Turned out to be as deaf as a post
     E                                           B7               E
A condition I was not aware of until | she got behind my steering wheel.


[Verse 2]
  B7
I had a fifty-seven Chevy, it was born to run
       E
It was a red-hot fuel injected son of a gun
E
And when her shoe went down on the accelerator
                                 B7
She just froze when it let out a roar
         E
I said, “Don’t rev it so much take your foot off the gas”.
    A
She thought I said to pop the clutch and make it go fast
        E                       B7                    E
And she did and friends we laid rubber for a block or more.


[Chorus 1]
               E                             A
And there were chickens on the bumper, yeah, feathers in the grill
     B7                              E
Rose bushes in the wheel wells and a pig on my windshield
        E                             A
And the bees were a-buzzin’ where she mowed down their beehive
       E                             B7              E
On the day I tried to teach Charlene McKenzie how to drive.  CHANGE TO F
 

[Verse 3]
F
I said, “Hold on a second I wanna talk to you”.
    Bb
She thought I said, “Go for second and see what she’ll do”.
       F                                               C
And we laid more rubber she jumped it to a hundred and four
    F
Now Clarkdale Georgia is just a little old town
    Bb
And shoot, I thought I knew my way around
        F                         C          F
But she took me places that day I never seen before.


[Verse 4]
        C
Through barns and gullies and over hills
     F
We uncovered lovers and moonshine stills
                                                                        C
And broke into a clearing of the annual picnic of the Georgia Highway Patrol
        F
Yeah we broke up that picnic and everything in it
      Bb
Those officers were on us in a New York minute
      F                              C       F
And I knew, somehow, I just had to regain control.


[Chorus 2]
                       F                            Bb
Because now there were lovers on the bumper, picnic baskets in the grill, yeah
C                                       F
Wrapped around the fenders was what was left of a moonshine still
            F                                            Bb
There was a wounded patrolman on my windshield yellin’, “You’ll get 3 to 5”.
       C                                             F
On the day I tried to teach Charlene McKenzie how to drive.


[Verse 5]
       C                                                 F
Well I finally got her just to push in the clutch and we coasted to a stop
        Bb                                                F
But she still had her foot on the gas when up walked that wounded highway cop
            Bb
He blew some feathers out of his mouth and before I could stop him I heard him ask,

 “Ptooey, why don’t you quit revvin’ it up so much and take your foot off the gas”.

Oh no, here we go again!!!
 

[Chorus 1]
               F                             Bb
And there were chickens on the bumper, yeah, feathers in the grill
     C                               F
Rose bushes in the wheel wells and a pig on my windshield
        F                             Bb
And the bees were a-buzzin’ where she mowed down their beehive
       F                             C               F
On the day I tried to teach Charlene McKenzie how to drive.
       F                                                      C      F
On the day I tried to teach Charlene, Charlene, look out !!!  how to drive.