Not sure how many people here have actually written or attempted to write a song, but one may be surprised how difficult it is to write a “simple” song.
Simplicity often overlaps with vulnerability. It can be (certainly not always) a daunting proposition to present a simple, emotionally vulnerable song to an audience, be it a record-listener or a live audience.
It’s quite a comfortable place to be to issue dense, obtuse lyrics or music to an audience. As someone who’s written songs that others have called, “obtuse” or “intelligent,” or “sophisticated,” and as someone who’s performed live some 1000 times in his life, I can say the very simple songs (be it musically or lyrically) are the most daunting, because it’s so much easier and more comfortable to lean bank on “complexity.” The ones that get my teeth chattering are the super-simple, vulnerable ones.
Tons of songwriters, from Elton John to Billy Joe Shaver, have spoken of the challenges of writing simple songs.