I Am a Simple Man

"I Am a Simple Man" is a song written by Walt Aldridge, and recorded by American country music artist Ricky Van Shelton. It was released in April 1991 as the first single from his album Backroads. The song was Ricky Van Shelton's 9th number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart.

"I Am a Simple Man"
Single by Ricky Van Shelton
from the album Backroads
B-side	"Backroads"
Released	April 8, 1991[1]
Recorded	December 20, 1990[1]
Genre	Country
Length	3:26
Label	Columbia Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Walt Aldridge
Producer(s)	Steve Buckingham
Ricky Van Shelton singles chronology
"Rockin' Years" (1991) "I Am a Simple Man" (1991) "Keep It Between the Lines" (1991)

Content

The narrator's spouse/girlfriend confronts him after a long, tiring day at work, wanting to start an argument by telling him he's hard to understand.

The narrator doesn't want a fight, and responds by telling her he's not hard to understand at all – so long as he has "a job and a piece of land/three squares [three meals] in my frying pan" he's very easy to please.

Chart performance

"I Am a Simple Man" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and on The Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[2]	1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)	Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[4]	25
US Country Songs (Billboard)[5]	19

References

1. Greatest Hits Plus (CD). Ricky Van Shelton. Columbia Records. 1992. 52753.CS1 maint: others (link)
2. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 1592." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. August 10, 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
3. "Ricky Van Shelton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
4. "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1991". RPM. December 21, 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
5. "Best of 1991: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.