Many times a singer covering a song originally sung by the opposite gender will switch up the gender in the lyrics. But it really didn't make sense in this case, as the entire song revolves around a girl being whisked away to a better life by a man with a fast car. It would have been a bit awkward for Luke to sing "checkout boy - in fact it would have sounded rather gay considering the rest of the lyrics.
When Joan Baez covered "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", she didn't change the gender in that song either, because it just wouldn't have sounded right.
I think Luke made the right choice here.