One Smart Momma… The Simple Brilliance of The Song Simple Man

One Smart Momma

So the story goes that 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.” (songfacts).

Now I don’t know about you but the first question I ask myself is how damn smart were Ronnie and Gary’s grandmother and mother?

To be able to give that type of wisdom to your child seems like a rare gift to have.

I mean I love my parents dearly, but neither of them have ever sat me down and told me anything nearly as wise as what the young man in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s famous song hears from his mom.

Now, of course, the profound wisdom this mom teaches to her child is in fact a multitude of stories. These stories coming from two separate women. Still, that is a lot of wisdom to have come out of two parents. Let alone for that wisdom to be so singular in how it sounds when the two parents aren’t a mother and father.

The truth of the tale spun by Lynyrd Skynyrd I have no idea of. What I do know is the song is brilliant. The song isn’t just a brilliant piece of music, it’s a life lesson.

So…

What Makes Simple Man So Great?

For anybody to understand how brilliant the song Simple Man is in it’s construction you oddly have to know a little bit of psychology.

You see, the fact of the matter is that when someone is telling us something, pretty much anything, we are more likely to listen to what they have to say if they say their source is a parent. Which is why I will always tell you the construction of Simple Man lyrically is so god damn brilliant.

Do I think that Lynyrd Skynyrd thought about this while they were creating the song?

I honestly have no clue.

In fact, they say things went entirely differently as you can see above.

Yet still, this bit of psychology is a part of what makes the song so brilliant. (Other than the fact the wisdom given is in fact very profound).

Conclusion

Let’s be honest.

You already knew Simple Man was a brilliant song with some lyrics to live by. But…

Now you can go on and tell people part of the reason the construct of how the wisdom within the song is given is so smart. Furthermore you just learned a tiny bit of psychology without really doing much but clicking on an article about one of your favorite songs.

And…

If you’ve never heard the song, then go right on ahead and sing along with me once you listen to…