"Simple Man" is the fourth track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album. Shortly after Ronnie Van Zant's grandmother and Gary Rossington's mother died, they got together in Van Zant's apartment and shared stories about their mothers. 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 approximately an hour. Even though the lyrics state, "Sit beside me, my only son," Ronnie was not the only son. He had two younger brothers along with one older sister and one younger sister.
