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Kris Kistofferson was born in 1936. He is described as "an Oxford scholar, a defensive back, a bartender, a Golden Gloves boxer, a gandy dancer, a forest-fighter, a road crew member, and an Army Ranger who flew helicopters. He was a peacenik, a revolutionary, an actor, a superstar, a Casanova, and a family man. He was almost a teacher at West Point, though he gave that up to become a Nashville songwriting bum."
Kristopherson began writing songs in 1965 after moving to Nashville. It is said that songs are poetry set to music. His style of writing "changed the language of country music, with extraordinary internal rhymes, Shakespearean iambic pentameter, and socially progressive subject matters that found the personal within the political."
Many of Kristopherson's songs became hits for various singers, but in 1970 he released his own debut album which included “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” “For The Good Times,” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.”
Janis Joplin's version of "Me and Bobby Mcgee" is perhaps the most well- known version of the song. It was released three months after Joplin's death in 1970 and became a number one hit on Billboard's Top 100.
Biography
ME AND BOBBY MCGEE
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, headin' for the trains,
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
Took us all the way to New Orleans.
Took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
And was blowin' sad while Bobby sang the blues,
With them windshield wipers slappin' time and
Bobby clappin' hands we finally sang up every song
That driver knew.
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose,
And nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free,
Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
From the coalmines of Kentucky to the California sun,
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul,
Standin' right beside me through everythin' I done,
And every night she kept me from the cold.
Then somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away,
She was lookin' for the love I hope she'll find,
Well I'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday,
Holdin' Bobby's body close to mine.
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose,
And nothin' left was all she left to me,
Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me.
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee.
As an introduction to the song on his debut album, Kristopherson says "If it sounds country, man, that's what it is. It's a country song."
Me and Bobby McGee
In 1985 Kristopherson joined three other legends of country music - Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash - to form The Highwaymen." The group not only sang the hit songs of each of its members, but also new songs like "Highwayman," "Silver Stallion," and "Born and Raised in Black and White."
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