Deftones / B-Sides & Rarities (Bonus Track Version) / 2005
Simple Man
earnest, tender, instructive
This is Deftones' cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, a plainspoken piece of maternal advice set to music rather than an original Deftones composition. The band's inclusion of it on a rarities collection reframes a Southern-rock anthem through their own moodier, heavier sonic lens, but the words themselves remain unchanged folk wisdom about contentment over ambition.
maternal guidance anti-materialism self-sufficiency faith contentment over ambition
Who's speaking
A son recounts advice given to him by his mother; the voice shifts between reported speech (her words) and the son's present reflection on having received them.
What happens
The song opens with a memory of being called to sit and listen as a child, then unfolds as a series of maxims: take life slowly, seek love, keep faith, reject greed, trust instinct, and above all find satisfaction rather than wealth. The chorus repeats the central charge to live simply, and the song closes by letting that refrain stand alone, stripped of further instruction.
How it's built
Built on a traditional verse-chorus folk/rock structure with no bridge or formal turn -- each verse adds a new piece of counsel while the chorus restates the same plea with slight variation (addressed first to 'son' generically, then explicitly 'for me son'). The final repetitions drop the conditional tag entirely, letting the refrain trail off as pure assertion.
Section by section
Opening verse
The song begins by setting a domestic scene of a child being summoned to listen, establishing intimacy and quiet authority before any actual advice is given.75
Second verse
The counsel turns practical: slow down, expect hardship, seek companionship, keep faith. It reads as a checklist of life stages compressed into a few lines..
First chorus
The title phrase arrives as both a definition and a gentle command, equating simplicity with authenticity -- being something one loves and understands rather than performing success.()
Third verse
Materialism is explicitly rejected; the claim that fulfillment is internal is the song's clearest thesis statement.()
Closing verses and outro
The imperative to trust one's own heart replaces earlier external guidance (faith, love) with pure self-reliance.()
Craft
- frame narrative
- The whole song is cast as remembered speech, with the mother's voice reported by the son, which lends the advice the authority of inherited wisdom rather than abstract moralizing.
- anaphora
- Repeated imperative constructions ('don't you worry,' 'you can do this') give the verses a catechism-like rhythm, reinforcing the sense of accumulated rules for living.
- refrain with variation
- The chorus's request shifts slightly each time it returns, moving from a general plea to a more personal one framed as being 'for me,' deepening the emotional stakes without changing the core message.
Reading it
Read straightforwardly, the song is a sincere intergenerational blessing -- a mother's hope that her son measure success by satisfaction rather than wealth or speed. A more skeptical reading might note the tension between faith, materialism, and self-reliance ('trust in something above' sits oddly beside 'follow your heart and nothing else'), suggesting the advice is less a coherent philosophy than a loving parent's assortment of hopes. For Deftones specifically, the choice to cover this song -- a departure from their usual thematic territory of alienation and desire -- can be read as a sincere tribute to a classic rather than an ironic or subversive reinterpretation; nothing in their version seems to recontextualize the lyric's meaning.
Context
'Simple Man' is a cover of the 1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd song written by Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington, included here as a bonus/rarity track by Deftones. I don't have reliable information on when or why Deftones recorded this cover, so I can't speak with confidence to its specific recording context or what prompted the choice beyond noting it fits their history of occasional cover songs on compilation releases.
Listen for
- the shift in vocal delivery between quoted maternal speech and the son's own reflection
- how the chorus's phrasing changes subtly each repetition, especially the added personal appeal
- any contrast between the song's gentle lyrical content and Deftones' typically heavier instrumental palette
- the way the outro lets the refrain stand without its conditional ending, closing on pure assertion rather than invitation
About Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the lineup in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
1988 - present / United States
Full biography and catalogue