“Me and Bobby McGee” is one of Kris Kristofferson’s most impressive songwriting bouts. Kristofferson pieced together vignettes of his life on the road, meeting women, and falling in love. The end result is this ode to a ficticious woman “Bobby McGee.” Uncover the meaning behind this track, below.
Videos by American Songwriter
Behind the Meaning of Kris Kristofferson’s “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
Kristofferson wrote this song out of an assignment from Monument Records founder, Fred Foster. He came to him with the title. It struck enough of a chord with Kristofferson for him to flesh out a story. The end result was a timeless narrative about two lovers searching for freedom. He sought inspiration for his story from a film.
“For some reason, I thought of La Strada, this Fellini film, and a scene where Anthony Quinn is going around on this motorcycle and Giulietta Masina is the feeble-minded girl with him, playing the trombone,” Kristofferson once said. “He got to the point where he couldn’t put up with her anymore and left her by the side of the road while she was sleeping.”
“Later in the film, he sees this woman hanging out the wash and singing the melody that the girl used to play on the trombone,” he continued. “He asks, ‘Where did you hear that song?’ And she tells him it was this little girl who had showed up in town and nobody knew where she was from, and later she died. That night, Quinn goes to a bar and gets in a fight. He’s drunk and ends up howling at the stars on the beach. To me, that was the feeling at the end of ‘Bobby McGee.’ The two-edged sword that freedom is. He was free when he left the girl, but it destroyed him. That’s where the line ‘Freedom’s just another name for nothing left to lose’ came from.”
Revisit this track, below.
I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna
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
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, Lord, through everythin’ I done
Every night she kept me from the cold
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.