Songfacts®:

• Jewel puts one of her credos into the chorus of this song:
  
  The more I live
  The more I know
  What's simple is true
  
  She was famous by this time, but also aware that her notoriety and bigger bank account weren't the key to happiness. It's really the simple things in life that make us happy, and in the context of this song, that's finding love.
• "What's Simple Is True is featured in Jewel's first movie, Ride With the Devil, which also stars Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich. The song first appeared on her album Spirit in 1998 and was included on the soundtrack when the film was released in 1999.
• This poetic, introspective song was released as a single in 1999 but didn't chart. Jewel spent most of the '90s touring relentlessly, gradually building a following until her debut single, "Who Will Save Your Soul," took off in 1996. She jumped on the Lilith Fair in 1997 and sold over 12 million copies of her debut album, Pieces Of You. By 1999 (the last year of the Lilith Fair), female singer-songwriters had fallen out of favor, which explained why this song didn't chart. Jewel maintained a substantial fanbase and sustained a long and fruitful career.
• The music video, directed by Matthew Rolston, plays to the "frozen" theme in the lyrics, with Jewel performing the song in the snowy woods.