There's a breakdown
On the runway
And the timeless flights are gone
I'm a year ahead of myself these days
And I'm locomotive strong
My city
Spread like cannon fire
In a yellow nervous state
I can't cut the ties that bind me
To horoscopes and fate

And I won't break
And I won't bend
But someday soon we'll sail away
To innocence
And the bitter end
And I won't break
And I won't bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back
To the simple life again
Oh, all right!

When we break out
Of this blindfold
I'm gonna take you from this place
Until we're free from this ball and chain
I'm still hard behind the eight
My city
Beats like hammered steel
On a shallow cruel rock
If we could walk proud after midnight
We'd never have to stop

And I won't break
And I won't bend
But someday soon we'll sail away
To innocence
And the bitter end
And I won't break
And I won't bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back
To the simple life again
All right!

And I won't break
And I won't bend
But someday soon we'll sail away
To innocence
And the bitter end
And I won't break
And I won't bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back
To the simple life again

And I won't break
And I won't bend
But someday soon we'll sail away
To innocence
And the bitter end
And I won't break
I won't bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back
To the simple life again

Hey, oh yeah!

Oh yeah, oh yeah

Oh yeah, oh yeah

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah


Lyrics submitted by Major Valor

Simple Life Lyrics as written by Bernard J. P. Taupin Elton John

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Simple Life song meanings
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5 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    No one? Wow... as far as i'm concerned this was the second best single on this album. I think it talks about how overcomplicated life has become, and the desire we all have to "break out" of what has become the status-quo and get back to the simplicity of times past. This song carries a similar theme to Queen's "I want to break Free" with a different execution. That's my take anyway.

    Playdrv4meon March 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Another forgotten gem of a song.

    daninnjon July 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Another forgotten gem of a song.

    daninnjon July 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Opened a show in San Antonio in January 1998 -- nice slow rocker to warm folks up. Cool memory indeed.

    kurtamuson September 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don\'t think there\'s much to this song. It\'s a slow burner that has a quiet, determined energy and optimism to it. \n\nThe message is simple: Things have been rough and trying, but we\'re going to get though it and come out the other side OK, and when we do, we\'re going to be able to breathe a sigh of relief and finally relax. \n\nI think it was a common message in the early 90\'s, with the world having emerged from the Cold War (seemingly) peaceful and OK and there being a lot of optimism that maybe we had gotten past some of our greatest struggles. Furthermore, Elton was emerging from his issues of the 80\'s at this time and was probably feeling a sense of optimism himself about what was left of his life and career.

    LancerPrideon March 25, 2022   Link

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