"Simple Man" is the last track on side one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd).
Shortly after Ronnie Van Zant's grandmother and Gary Rossington's mother died, they got together in Van Zant's apartment and started telling stories about them. Rossington came up with a chord progression, and Van Zant wrote the lyrics based on advice the women had given them over the years. They wrote it in about an hour.
"We just put down in a song what our mama or grandma had said to us," Rossington told Paul Ingles. "They really wrote it, we just played it."
"Simple Man" epitomized Ronnie Van Zant, who enjoyed friends, family, and a good time far more than anything money could buy. He held true to these values even after he found fame.