AC/DC’s She’s Got The Jack came on today and I was reminded of how much I like it. But there’s not much to it. The words seem like throwaways, the chord progression is the most basic there is. The production is barebones. Still I like it and it makes me happy.
What is your favorite “simple” song? Define simple as you will.
She’s Got The Jack: ACDC - She's Got The Jack - YouTube
Bobby McFerrin - Sweet In The Morning
The words “Sweet in the morning” are repeated numerous times throughout the song. All other sounds in the song are mostly oohs and ahs.
‘For Your Love’ by the Yardbirds. I’ve loved it since the first time I heard it in high school. I think it’s pretty simple, the lyrics anyway. I love the … minor key?
Most of the work of Hank Williams fits the OP. One guy singing and accompanied by a barebones, almost minimalist acoustic guitar and fiddle
But what a pleasure to listen to!To me, simple means simple in structure and kinda child-like sing-song-iness. A sine like Mickey by Toni Basil.
The Jack is a simple midtempo blues structure, but the lyrics are silly, fun double entendres that Bon Scott excelled at better than most. I mean, the lyric occupies a space similar to Warrant’s Cherry Pie, and yet are so much more well crafted and wry.
Seven Nation Army stands out as amazing - I didn’t know riffs could still be structured that sound like they are eternal and have always been there. He wrote a song that is chanted by whole stadiums on a daily basis.
Crazy, by Willie Nelson. A song so simple that it even sounds good when Willie sings it himself.
Also simple in the sense that the more orchestration you put in it, the worse it sounds.
Pop music is usually pretty spare to begin with. During the “Grunge” period when everything on the radio (remember that?) was Alice in ChainGarden Pilots, a one hit wonder came out called “We’ll Make Great Pets” by somebody or other. Great hook and solo.
That’s by Porno for Pyros a band formed by Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction.
**kunilou **what’s simple about Crazy? I love it’s jazz chords which ain’t simple ;).
Here’s Willie playing solo - he uses complex chords and lots of passing notes to fill in between the chords. Love it - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uL_JKHWkl2k
The complete works of AC/DC, the Ramones and Motörhead. These three bands are my personal “great primitives”, and they made simplicity into an art form (noise, sound, attitude and production were crucial in all three cases).
You could even name whole genres: almost all of punk rock and almost all of blues: incidentally, I’m just reading Keith Richards’ “Life”, and he mentions how Jimmy Reed basically always played the same simple song, but had, how much, 20 hits with it.
Horse With no Name.
I love that song precisely because of it’s simplicity.
Oh, and I forgot to post my own favorite simple song. 
“Lollipop”
“Tell Her No” by the Zombies
Limited vocal range, sparse orchestration.
Whether you call it simple or not, I call it one of the best pop songs of the second half of the 20th Century.
Ok, that was more of a joke, but it lead me toThank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin, which is indeed one of my favorite songs that’s very simple, yet the funkiest song ever recorded IMHO.
ETA: really, you can add the whole genre “funk” to the list, all those great James Brown songs who are basically two or three chords and one lick: Sex Machine.
Here’s mine.
“My Sharona” by the Knack is so simple that it barely qualifies as a song – it’s more like an easy guitar lick/hook repeated ad nauseum for three minutes with some random doggerel words tossed in to approximate something like lyrics. Yet despite, or maybe because of, its moronic simplicity, I never turn it off when it pops up on random play.
Great example.
As a listener of music I love tons of simple stuff from three chord rock to blues from the 30’s.
As a lazy self-indulgent guitarist :DI absolutely revel in easy to learn easy to play songs. Whether they have a great shuffle,. swing or agression, I’d rather concentrate on playing with the timing and dynamics,than trying to recreate note for note Yngwie solos.
No argument from me!
Okay, sparse music? Gotta go with Kelis’ Milkshake, produced by the Neptunes (Pharrell and Chad Hugo): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGL2rytTraA
The whole song is made up of a synth line that is kinda like Gary Numan’s Cars, a bit of drum machine and a tinkly bell. So simple, but damn.
“What I Like About You”, by the Romantics
https://youtu.be/Rqnw5IfbZOU