"I Am a Simple Man" is a song written by Walt Aldridge

Walt Aldridge

Walt Aldridge is an American musician, singer, songwriter, engineer and record producer.Aldridge is known primarily as a Nashville songwriter...

 and recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Country Music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Ricky Van Shelton

Ricky Van Shelton

Ricky Van Shelton is a currently retired American country music artist. Active between 1986 and 2006, he has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...

. It was released as the second single in 1991 from his album, Backroads

Backroads (Ricky Van Shelton album)

Backroads is the fifth Studio Album by Country Music artist Ricky Van Shelton. The first three singles released from the album, "Rockin' Years" , "I Am a Simple Man", and "Keep It Between the Lines" all were number 1 hits. "After the Lights Go Out" and "Backroads" charted at #13 and #2, respectively...

. The song became Shelton's 8th #1 hit on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) chart.

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 #1 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart and on The Canadian RPM

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

Country Tracks chart.

Chart (1991)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1