Simple Song Lyrics - Anthony Courtney

"Simple Song" by Anthony Courtney, featured in the soundtrack of the 2024 movie "American Dreamer," is a reflective piece that encapsulates the essence of living a simple, content life, unburdened by the complexities and materialism that often distract from happiness​​. The lyrics paint a picture of a man who cherishes simplicity, finds joy in the natural world, and maintains a sense of peace and happiness amidst life's ups and downs. This straightforward narrative and the song's melody resonate with listeners, offering a comforting reminder of the beauty in simplicity.

The line "getting up with the sun and lying down when it's 'cold and bleak'" brings to mind images of a perfect harmony with nature, further enforcing the message of this song. The attitude to the writing of the song—lyrics to be to the point, the story clear—is representative of a greater direction in popular music, where simplicity is just as often the key to the song being enjoyed. The repetitive lyrics, probably with simpler and more repetitive words, are the ones that a listener can possibly remember and like. These will result in high competence and low cognitive efforts in processing and enjoyment.

That more or less corresponds to the psychological phenomenon that is the mere exposure effect: familiarity gives birth to preference, so songs with very simple and repetitive lyrics are likely to appeal more to a broader mass of people. The trend toward simpler lyrics in popular music may be something of a response to an increasing volume of new music releases. As fans get bombarded by new songs, tracks with simpler lyrics might stick out more and so remain memorable. Such a preference for simplicity could very well be a matter of our unconscious picking in nature, emerging from poor cognitive resources and instinctive use of heuristics, like mental shortcuts in making decisions.