About The Song
“Simple Man”, is a song written and recorded by American music group Charlie Daniels Band . It was released in August 1989 as the lead single from their album of the same name.
The song is the lament of a self-proclaimed honest man, who expresses frustration at barely getting by despite making an honest living, while dishonest politicians and criminals are allowed to get away with anything. Expressing frustration at a judicial system that he believes is too lenient with drug dealers, rapists and child abusers, he suggests lynching, (“Now if I had my way with people sellin’ dope/I’d take a big tall tree and a short piece of rope/I’d hang ’em up high and let ’em swing ’til the sun goes down”) and allowing swamp animals such as alligators to eat criminals (“Just take them rascals out in the swamp/Put ’em on their knees and tie ’em to a stump/Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest”). The man blames a society that has forsaken God and as a result has become a lawless society, then reaffirms his support of the death penalty for the most severe crimes (“The Good Book says it so I know it’s the truth/An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”).
The music video was directed by Larry Boothby and premiered in late 1989.
Video
Lyrics
I ain’t nothin’ but a simple man
They call me a redneck I reckon that I am
But there’s things goin’ on that make me mad down to the core
I have to work like a dog to make ends meet
There’s crooked politicians and crime in the street
And I’m madder than hell, and I ain’t a-gonna take it no more
We tell our kids, “Just say no”
And then some panty-waist judge lets a drug dealer go
Slaps him on the wrist and he turns him back out on the town
But if I had my way with people sellin’ dope
Take a big tall tree and a short piece of rope
I’d hang ’em up high and let them swing ’til the sun goes down
Well, you know what’s wrong with the world today
People done gone and put their Bibles away
They’re livin’ by the law of the jungle, not the law of the land
Well, the Good Book says it so I know it’s the truth
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
You better watch where you go and remember where you been
That’s the way I see it, I’m a simple man
Now I’m the kinda man who wouldn’t harm a mouse
But if I catch somebody breakin’ in my house
I got a 12-gauge shotgun waitin’ on the other side
So don’t go pushin’ me against my will
I don’t want to have to fight you but I dern sure will
If you don’t want trouble then you’d better just pass me on by
As far as I’m concerned, there ain’t no excuse
For the rapin’ and the killin’ and the child abuse
But I’ve got a way to put an end to all that fast
You just take them rascals out in the swamp
Put ’em on their knees and tie ’em to a stump
Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest
Well, you know what’s wrong with the world today
People done gone and put their Bibles away
They’re livin’ by the law of the jungle, not the law of the land
Well, the Good Book says it so I know it’s the truth
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
You better watch where you go and remember where you been
That’s the way I see it, I’m a simple man
Watch where you go and remember where you been
That’s the way I see it, I’m a simple man