SHORT TAKES : Daniels Denies He’s ‘Simple’

NASHVILLE — Country rock musician Charlie Daniels says he isn’t the hidebound, simplistic person whose views are presented in the song “Simple Man.”

But Daniels has sympathy for him. The song’s lyrics advocate the lynching of anybody involved in drugs and call for a slow death for child abusers by leaving them for alligators and rattlesnakes.

“When I say I’m a simple man, it’s simple attitudes,” Daniels said. “Obviously, I’m being facetious with the song. I certainly don’t think we should string anybody up from a tree or leave people out in the swamp.”