“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning posed this famous question in her poem over a century ago, and lovers (and songwriters!) have been struggling with the perfect answer ever since.

The problem, though, is that no list of a loved one’s virtues could ever be complete. Writer’s cramp or exhaustion must surely set in at some point. And so something must naturally be left out. I guess even Browning didn’t get it totally right.

I contemplated this dilemma one day when I was thinking about why I loved my wife. Was it because she’s beautiful? Because she cooks for me? Because she’s funny? The list went on and on. And then it dawned on me; no list could sum up what I felt, because the feeling was bigger than the parts it was made of. And that was when I picked up my guitar and pen and wrote this song.

Details: Below are two versions; the first one is my rough home demo (all me), which was used as the guide for the second version, which was recorded in a nice studio here in Nashville with Mike Lusk on vocals.

PS: before I recorded either of these versions I sang and played it for Terri as a gift on Christmas morning last year. It made her cry, so I guess I did good.

Here’s the home demo…

And here’s the studio version…

SIMPLE AS THAT

Maybe it’s the clothes you wear
Or that long red hair
Maybe ‘cause you’re always there
But I don’t think so

Maybe it’s the way you smile
When I’m coming through the door
Maybe I could love you more
But I don’t think so

I cannot put my finger on a single reason why
All the little bits add up to this
So I won’t even try

I just love you
I do
Love you like a big old dog
Yes I do
I just love you
Simple as that
No one above you
Simple as that
It’s as simple as that

Maybe it’s the things you say
Or your little girl ways
Maybe I should count the days
But I don’t think so

Maybe it’s the love you give
To all the little creatures
How you’re garden grows
But I don’t think so

There ain’t no use in pointing to a solitary thing
It’s the picture from the pieces girl
That makes me want to sing

I just love you
I do
Love you like a big old dog
Yes I do
I just love you
Simple as that
No one above you
Simple as that
It’s as simple as that

(Words & Music by SJ Adams)

Tags: music, Skip Adams, songs, Songwriter, songwriting

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 11:50 PM and is filed under Biography, songwriting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.