Monday, July 29, 2013

Song Meaning: Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd

ARTIST: Lynyrd Skynyrd | ALBUM: Pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd | RELEASED: 1973
Song Meaning: Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Simple Man" is a track on Lynyrd Skynrd's debut album
"Simple Man" is a heartfelt song about the mother-son relationship. This song proves that the Southern boys of Lynyrd Skynyrd were capable of stepping outside of their redneck-zone, and write meaningful lyrics.

Song has a nice acoustic rhythm section along with a usual electric-guitar solo.

Though the song was never released as a single, it still remains very popular among the band's fans, and accordingly, has become a fixture on their live setlist. Current frontman of the band, Johnny Van Zant, has said, "('Simple Man') just a great song and that one stays in the set and the crowd always goes crazy on that one."

Regardless of the kind of music Lynyrd Skynyrd creates, there's one important thing they just can't let go of: Jesus and the Bible. I know what you might be thinking: I'm being too naive and criticize the Southern boys at every step of the way. Fact is, I'm not. It's perfectly fine to make use of references to God in a this kind of a song10, given that my mom and grandma, and pretty much all my family members are faith-based people. They pray for my well-being just like any other parent in this world. However, this isn't the only song of Skynyrd that I've analyzed. If you consider "Free Bird", for instance, that too has four references to God. Fact of the matter is, "Free Bird" doesn't need to mention such subject matter whatsoever. If you take bands like AC/DC or Led Zeppelin into account, they are yet to mention God four times during their entire careers!

So why does Lynyrd Skynyrd always find a way to cram God into songs?10 I already talked about this in "Free Bird" but let me mention it again: it's one of the best ways of appealing to fellow Southerners. One thing the Southerners love, besides hating Black people, is going to church. So the band is using God to sell albums, much like the Republicans use thereof to get their base to vote for them. It's just pathetic. In fact, conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly ridiculed the Republicans for being bible-thumpers.

That's what I think of this nice song - yes, I really mean that after that rant. The song is great! Feel free to correct me if you think I'm missing something - make a comment below. 


  1. Mama told me when I was young
  2. Come sit beside me, my only son
  3. And listen closely to what I say.
  4. And if you do this
  5. It will help you some sunny day.
  6. Take your time... Don't live too fast,
  7. Troubles will come and they will pass.
  8. Go find a woman and you'll find love,
  9. And don't forget son,
  10. There is someone up above.

  11. [Chorus:]
  12. And be a simple kind of man.
  13. Be something you love and understand.
  14. Be a simple kind of man.
  15. Won't you do this for me son,
  16. If you can?

  17. Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
  18. All that you need is in your soul,
  19. And you can do this if you try.
  20. All that I want for you my son,
  21. Is to be satisfied.

  22. [Chorus]

  23. Boy, don't you worry.
  24. You'll find yourself.
  25. Follow you heart,
  26. and nothing else.
  27. You can do this,
  28. if you try.
  29. All that I want for you my son,
  30. is to be satisfied.

  31. [Chorus] 

Lyrics from: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lynyrdskynyrd/simpleman.html

29 comments:

  1. "One thing the Southerners love, besides hating Black people, is going to church."

    stopped reading there

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yeah im a southerner an I don't hate black people that's racist

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    2. I get it, but you're a southerner with internet....

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    3. Why do you think that all Southerners hate black people. I'm a Southerner and my adopted family is black and I love them very much. So not ALL Southerners hate black people!

      Delete
    4. Why do you think that Southerners hate black people. I'm a Southerner and I have an adopted black family and I love them very much. So not ALL Southerners hate black people!

      Delete
    5. Why do you think that Southerners hate black people. I'm a Southerner and I have an adopted black family and I love them very much. So not ALL Southerners hate black people!

      Delete
    6. Ok, WHO EXACTLY wrote this song? Credit on 'I-Heart Radio 'says simply 'NASH'..(as in Graham?) other sources say otherwise...WHO WAS IT???

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    7. Hey I'm from down south and some of my friends are black,why would you think that we hate black people that is ridiculous.

      Delete
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  2. "One thing the Southerners love, besides hating Black people, is going to church."

    Yeah, I stopped reading after seeing that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. This is a bunch of bullshit! You know nothing of people from the South! It doesn't work the way you think...go live in the South... before you go spouting shit like this!

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    3. Thats because we spit on black people on our way into church..... they can play football though. And cook good chicken.

      Delete
    4. That's where this biased piece of garbage lost me too (and I'm not a Southerner).

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  3. Your so racist! I hope you burn in hell

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  4. You do the very thing you accuse southerners of. Kettle Black sir.

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  5. Who ever wrote this can go fuck themselves. You have no right to blindly insult people you dont even know in such a brazen manner. The is nothing wrong with being religious, and there is nothing wrong about being from the South. You better get these silly biases out of your head or you will live a sad sad existence.

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  6. Alright first I wanna be sure I'm not being disrespectful. ALL SOUTHERNERS ARE NOT RACIST. I happen to live in North Carolina, actually I was born and raised in Charlotte, where the population is over 50% black or hispanic. I'm not racist. Fair, simple, and logical. Racism is a practice taught to children by their parents, not inherited, and definitely not a culture. Second, the Confederate flag that SKynyrd used all the time was meant to represent their love of the South, not as a form of racism. That's how the flag originally started out, as a means of morale and a means of bringing together a people. It got turned into a racist thing by the KKK so long ago that people today who cannot for the life of them learn from history still consider it to mean that a person who flies it is racist. That's an invalid argument. Third, Sweet Home Alabama was a song that was meant to show how much fun the band had in Alabama while touring, and how they seem to enjoy the place. It's not in any way racist. Fourth, Skynyrd used God as a means of showing their faith in stardome, not in means of profit. Being from the Bible belt of America they were bound to be religious and faithful, therefor they used God alot in their songs because they knew His grace. And Lastly, Free Bird was a tribute to the late Duane Allman, who was a close friend of the band, and who had just recently passed before their debut. Many people made a tribute to this amazing man, and Skynyrd was one of them. So naturally, them being strong rockers and strong in their faith, they are bound to mention God in their song about a great angel that He called home. I just don't see how you can so blindly bash on one of the greatest if not THE greatest southern rock band of all time. Do you know your facts? Or did my churching racist education just teach you something?

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    Replies
    1. Let's make one thing clear about the confederate flag: it's an anti-american flag, it doesn't represent the US. It actually represents breaking off of the US, or succeeding from the north so the south could continue slavery.

      This where the term "State's Rights" originates from - the southern states wanted to continue to hold slaves and invoked that each state should decide it as opposed to Washington.

      America has its own flag - the fucking american flag!

      The term 'State's Rights' is very popular among republican even today ( not in the context of slavery since they lost that battle a long time ago, unfortunately ) when it comes to shit like abortion, etc... They say states are the Laboratories of Democracies. Well, let's look two states: the all american american Kansas vs the gay-ridden, pron-making California. Kansas is a total disaster. All they did was cut taxes for the rich and state is going to shit. Gay California is doing much better, not the best, but much much better.

      What does it say about the Republicans when gay state gets it right and republican states fucks up?

      Delete
    2. 1) “This [sic] where the term "State's Rights" originates from - the southern states wanted to continue to hold slaves and invoked that each state should decide it as opposed to Washington.”

      Actually:
      “The conflict between the rights of the states and the powers of the federal government played a major role in the writing of the constitution and the process of ratification. Federalists argued for a strong federal power while anti-federalists opposed the new constitution entirely, or at least they wanted a Bill of Rights that would ensure individual liberties. Included in the Bill of Rights that was adopted was the Tenth Amendment, reserving all unallocated rights to the states and the people.”

      http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3515.htmld

      (The Federalists advocated “States Rights” because they did not want another government controlling power as Britain.)

      2) “Republican [sic] even today ( not in the context of slavery since they lost that battle a long time ago, unfortunately ) …”

      Actually:
      “There is one complication in the journey toward consciousness of Republican white supremacy. The actual Confederacy, as even casual students of history know, was entirely under the control of the Democratic Party. The dominance of Democrats goes beyond familiar tropes about “Dixiecrats” and Abraham Lincoln’s status as the first Republican president. The Confederate Congress did not observe party affiliations, and minor parties were relatively robust in the Civil War period, while the actual politics of the Confederacy have received little attention from historians. Nevertheless, to the extent the party affiliations of Confederate politicians can be ascertained, they are remarkable.

      All 27 senators in the second Confederate Senate, and at least 62 of the 106 members of the Second Confederate Congress, were Democrats. So were Confederate president Jefferson Davis and vice president Alexander Stephens. This, by the way, was after the elections of 1863 and 1864, when southern voters reacted to disastrous battlefield results by slightly weakening the Democratic Party’s stranglehold. Nor does the Democrats’ practical, rather than symbolic, support of the Confederacy end at the border. After his lousy generalship nearly lost the war for the Union, George McClellan went on challenge Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election, promising to “defeat NEGRO EQUALITY” and bring about an “Honorable, Permanent and happy PEACE!” And he ran as a Democrat. (McClellan’s successors having finally started to win the war, he lost the election.)”

      http://rare.us/rare-politics/issues/democrats/the-democratic-party-is-the-real-symbol-of-the-confederacy/

      The Republican Party was founded primarily to oppose slavery, and Republicans eventually abolished slavery. The Democratic Party fought them and tried to maintain and expand slavery. The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, passed in 1865 with 100% Republican support but only 23% Democrat support in congress.

      http://russp.us/racism.htm

      "Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted by white Democratic-dominated state legislatures in the late 19th century after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued to be enforced until 1965."

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

      "When the (Civil Rights) bill came before the full Senate for debate on March 30, 1964, the "Southern Bloc" of 18 southern Democratic Senators and one Republican Senator led by Richard Russell (D-GA) launched a filibuster to prevent its passage."

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964


      3) “America has its own flag - the…”

      Don’t you think may come across as a bit “anti-american” ???

      A Registered Independent

      Delete
  7. I find out yelling that this douche nozzle equates racism with religion and Christianity in particular. Self righteous price of human excrement.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I find it telling that this douche nozzle equates racism with religion and Christianity in particular. Self righteous price of human excrement.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Get over your self you waste of life, you, if anybody - are full of hate and have nothing else better to do but sit and think about stupid shit and use this a your own personal propaganda. Funny how people like you lump all these things about " southerners" you.are.a.fucking.hypocrite. you progressive white privileged libtard.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a stupid fucking blog. DT you’re an asshole

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