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Me and Bobby McGee

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For the album entitled Me and Bobby McGee, see Kristofferson (album).
"Me and Bobby McGee"
Song

"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, originally performed by Roger Miller. Others performed the song later, including the Grateful Dead, Kristofferson himself,[1] and Janis Joplin who topped the U.S. singles chart with the song in 1971 after her death, making the song the second posthumous number-one single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.[2]

History

In the original version of the song, Bobby is a woman. Joplin, who was allegedly a lover (but also a good friend and mentor) of Kristofferson's from the beginning of her career to her death, changed the sex and a few of the lyrics in her cover. Kristofferson stated he did not write this song for her, but the song is associated with her, especially in the line "Somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away."[3]

In a conversation with director Monte Hellman called "Somewhere Near Salinas" (available in the supplements to the Criterion Collection DVD release of Two-Lane Blacktop, a film in which Kristofferson's version is used on the soundtrack), Kristofferson stated that the film La Strada was an inspiration for the song and remarked on the irony of how a song inspired by a classic road movie should come to be used in another.

The title came from [producer and Monument Records founder] Fred Foster. He called one night and said, "I've got a song title for you. It's 'Me and Bobby McKee'." I thought he said "McGee". Bobby McKee was the secretary of Boudleaux Bryant, who was in the same building with Fred. Then Fred says, "The hook is that Bobby McKee is a she. How does that grab you?" (Laughs) I said, "Uh, I'll try to write it, but I've never written a song on assignment." So it took me a while to think about.[1] - Kris Kristofferson

Narrative

The song is essentially a road story about two drifters, the narrator and his girlfriend Bobby McGee (boyfriend in Joplin's version). The narrator speaks of travelling as vagrants, and hitching a ride on a diesel truck. They sing with the driver while travelling through the American south. The couple eventually travels to California, growing more intimate with each other and helping each other through the hardships of life.

However, Bobby gets tired of life on the road and decides to settle down "up near Salinas". She parts ways with the narrator who continues travelling. The song ends with the narrator regretting leaving Bobby, as he would "trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday".

Recordings and notable performances

"Me and Bobby McGee"
Song
B-side"Half Moon"

Roger Miller was the first artist to have a hit with the song, peaking with it at No. 12 on the U.S. country chart in 1969.

Gordon Lightfoot's version hit No. 13 on the pop chart and No. 1 country in his native Canada in 1970, and was also a top 10 hit in South Africa in 1971. Lightfoot sang the song after a detailed tribute to Kris Kristofferson in a CBC broadcast from the summer 1969 Charlottetown Festival.

In a 2008 autobiography, Don Reid and Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers say Kristofferson promised it to them, but when they later inquired about recording it, they learned Miller had already cut the song. The Reids say there were no hard feelings, and were happy about Miller's success with the song. The song was later included on a Statler Brothers album, and was not released as a single.

Joplin recorded the song for inclusion on her Pearl album only a few days before her death in October 1970. Kristofferson had sung the song for her, and singer Bob Neuwirth taught it to her. Kristofferson did not know she had recorded it until after her death. The first time he heard her recording of it was the day after she died.[4]

Joplin's version topped the charts to become her only number one single and in 2004, her version of this song was ranked No. 148 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. She also had heard Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead's accelerated ending and liked it so much she added her much more energetic "rap" to the end of the song. The Dead regularly covered the song between 1971 and 1974 and three times in 1981, according to setlists.net. (Also according to setlists.net, the first time the Grateful Dead played Me and Bobby McGee was on November 29, 1970. If correct, it is difficult to imagine that Janis, who died on October 4, 1970, was influenced by Bob Weir in her recording.)

Kristofferson performed the song live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 and a CD and DVD of the event were issued 30 years later as Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1970.

The Joplin version was used prominently in the epilogue of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's epic film of Berlin Alexanderplatz.

In 2002, Jennifer Love Hewitt remade Joplin's version of the song using acoustic equipment and included it in her fourth studio album BareNaked.

Chart positions (Roger Miller version)

Chart (1969) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 12
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 22
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 3

Selected list of recorded versions

Other artists
Preceded by RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Gordon Lightfoot version)
September 19, 1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Janis Joplin version)
March 20-March 27, 1971 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ a b "Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" - June 22, 2013 Lydia Hutchinson". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1971
  3. ^ "Songfacts: Me and Bobby McGee". August 2012.
  4. ^ Hawke, Ethan (April 16, 2009). "The Last Outlaw Poet". Rolling Stone (1076): 57. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  5. ^ "Anna & Mej". Discogs.com. accessdate: 10 June 2013. Template:En icon
  6. ^ "Upp till Ragvaldsträsk" (in Swedish). 1971. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
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