Behind The Song Episode 47: Janis Joplin "Me and Bobby McGee"

In this episode of the Behind The Song podcast, host Janda Lane goes deep into the lyrics of "Me and Bobby McGee," a song written by Kris Kristofferson, but made unforgettable by the singular voice of Janis Joplin.
Music: Christian Lane
Video Director: Michael Collier
About Janda:
Behind The Song podcast host and creator Janda Lane is a radio DJ at WDRV-FM in Chicago, the city she now calls home with her husband and podcast partner, Christian Lane, and their two cats, Ollie and Liam. She is a transplant from Los Angeles, where she was a video director at Fender, Executive Producer at Yahoo Music, playlist curator for ITunes, worked in rock management with artists like the Foo Fighters and Beck, was on the radio at KCRW, and she was a DJ at online radio pioneer site Soundbreak. She has not worked a day in her life.

[@devans873]

Brian Jones was also 27 when he died, that being said the hardest line in that song to listen to in but I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday to be holding Bobby's body next to mine. i lost my Wife who was the love of my life 13 years ago and every time i hear that line it chokes me up and the way she sings that line it make's me feel like she knows just what I'm feeling.

[@Caperhere]

Condolences. I hope your grief begins to ease up before too long.🤗

[@karenstanley964]

My condolences to you . I lost my husband in April 2009😢

[@davidcreager1945]

He was also an Army Ranger. He left the Army because he wanted to go to Vietnam , but the Army wanted him to teach at West Point. The rest is history. Janis's version is THE BEST !

[@Caperhere]

I heard Kris say in an interview he doesn’t really like Me and Bobby McGee because of his hearing her singing it after she died. It destroyed him the first time he heard her sing it, and every time he’s heard it, it brings back that sad emotional reaction he had. I think the interview was with Joe at The Musician’s Hall of Fame and Museum. I have loved that song since it came out when I was a kid. Lately, I’ve realized he referenced books in his songs, and I wonder if “ Salinas” is a reference to Steinbeck. It wasn’t until I read The Grapes of Wrath that I realized Here Comes That Rainbow Again is a recreation of the diner scene. And in Loving Her Was Easier, he mentions “ As I Lay Dying”, a Faulkner novel. PS. I thought it was “ heading for a train”. Kris was also offered the position of teaching English literature, and turned it down. I was a nice surprise to see him at Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday in May, 2023, at the age of 84.

[@martydavies7198]

I saw the same interview with Kris. What a nice guy he is a good human being.

[@carlsaganlives5112]

A true Renaissance man, fer sure...also parachuted or flew a helicopter to Johnny Cashs' place to show him some of his stuff, how cool is that?

[@johnhedrick663]

Thank you, for all the information about Janis. Kris Kristofferson is my favorite . No better wordsmith than Kris,and know one does “ Me and Bobble McGee “better than Janis.

[@kmaildavid]

Terrific recount of a beautiful creative soul. Thank you.

[@RCullis47]

Wonderful tribute and retrospective of a wonderful and unique talent. Her life is such a sad tale. I loved Janis since her Big Brother days when I was a child. It seemed as soon as I got hooked on her, she was soon gone. A tough pill to swallow and understand as a sixth grader. I love your segments. Really dug your piece on Warren Zevon too.

[@behindthesongpodcast]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@RCullis47]

@@behindthesongpodcast I just discovered your channel recently. I am now hooked. Great stuff, nice research, great storytelling. Love it.

[@joannewhitworth872]

I didn't discover Janis Joplin until she had passed. Thank you . Your podcast was great!

[@nitalay5317]

Great podcast. Great song. Joplin's great voice. Unlike the handsome jocks in high school who mocked her, former high school jock Kristofferson was a sometime lover and good friend.

[@behindthesongpodcast]

Thank you for listening.

[@johnmoreno7664]

Didn't Kris Kristofferson pen that song, made famous by Janis Joplin ?

[@Caperhere]

@@johnmoreno7664 Yes, he did, and recorded it. I’d like to know how many times it’s been sung around campfires and kitchens. He didn’t know Janis had recorded it until after she overdosed, so it’s always been sad for him.

[@kevinmccarty8632]

Yeah Kristofferson is a poet like Dylan.

[@MsTdougherty]

It was a great song! It was Janis’s song. Nobody sang it better than Janis NOBODY!

[@gordonteats298]

Praise YESHUA

[@mechcavandy986]

Jim Dickinson recorded it for Sam The Sam and released it about a month before Janis’s came out. After that, nobody wanted to hear theirs! 😹😹

[@carlsaganlives5112]

Interesting footnote, never heard that before! Sam was from the same area of Texas, too, like Janis. Not sure about Kris, but maybe.

[@mechcavandy986]

Her friend, Pig Pen of The Grateful Dead, died at 27 too.

[@Dawgmeet1]

I still have that album.....

[@scallopohare9431]

Janis Joplin and Grace Slick were the first women to get on stage equal to the men. No girl group, no ten pounds of makeup, they made it on their talent. Not gonna rant, but much as I love Rock and Roll, it was not welcoming to women as performers.

[@user-qg5wg9ut2o]

Great video ❤❤

[@jimolson8424]

Janis was a different soul. She was not by any means a ugly woman. Artistic people are born different than normal people. It makes life miserable for them. Because they can't find a good life with other people. They just don't fit in... But God made them to be great for a reason.

[@gordonteats298]

READERS DIGEST by LARRY NORMAN, this song should be played on the air, a great song

[@escapefelicity2913]

you're brilliant

[@alicjakijewski1012]

GENIALNIE ODDAJE CZYTANIEM BO CZUJE CZYTA PRZEKAZUJAC PRZEZYCIEn nRZADKO SPOTYKANY TALENT,,,,!

[@user-lg6be5hf9w]

When Kristofferson and Neuwirth arrived from New York for the Great Tequila Boogie, a lot of people were hanging out at Janis's house, sleeping in all the bedrooms and on the floor. Janis had her own suite on the top floor with all her books and her bed with silk sheets on it. Neuwirth and Kristofferson slept on the floor at first, but bets were being taken among the people hanging out at the house as to how long it would be before Kristofferson got invited upstairs to the third floor. It was less than a week. She thought he was a real honey.

[@jacksh-t1023]

"Don't Mean Nothin"" a VIET Nam soldier's anthem !!!

[@jolee3633]

Janis’s song oh lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz is reminiscent of her home town dialing for dollars was a segment on our local news at noon time daily program where the news caster would call a person’s house and give away money.

[@martinevans3106]

GOATS

[@thomaskline]

Roger Miller had the first hit with Bobby McGee.

[@1cultural]

Joplin sang the blues. It was chronicled in American Pue by Don McClean.

[@thomasmcqueeney6877]

You and Bobby McGoo! 😅😅😅

[@browningautomatic2393]

COOL VIDEO ! THURSDAY 10/19/23 OCTOBER 19, 2023

[@1cultural]

Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded the song.

[@gordonteats298]

You will like the band APOLOGETIX,they are the number 1 parody band in the world

[@novallasuter5265]

And we did get to hear one note...😢

[@kenday7942]

La strada does not mean ‘the street’. Street in Spanish is Estrada. Strada means more like glut or eat [Voraciously]

[@billmcgee7742]

Fellini was an Italian filmmaker and his movie "La Strada" means the street or road in Italian

[@kenday7942]

@@billmcgee7742 my mistake. Thanks for clarifying.

[@marctopel7982]

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train And I's feelin' near as faded as my jeans Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained It rode us all the way to New Orleans I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna I was playin' soft while Bobby sang the blues, yeah Windshield wipers slappin' time, I was holdin' Bobby's hand in mine We sang every song that driver knew Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no And, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues You know, feelin' good was good enough for me Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun There Bobby shared the secrets of my soul Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done Yeah, Bobby baby kept me from the cold One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away He's lookin' for that home, and I hope he finds it But, I'd trade all of my tomorrows, for a single yesterday To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin', that's all that Bobby left me, yeah But, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues Hey, feelin' good was good enough for me, mm-hmm Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee La da da La da da da La da da da da da da da La da da da da da da da Bobby McGee, yeah La da da da da da da La da da da da da da La da da da da da da Bobby McGee, yeah La da La la da da la da da la da da La da da da da da da da da Hey, my Bobby Oh, my Bobby McGee, yeah La la la la la la la la La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la Hey, my Bobby Oh, my Bobby McGee, yeah Well, I call him my lover, call him my man I said, I call him my lover did the best I can, c'mon Hey now, Bobby now Hey now, Bobby McGee, yeah Woo La da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la la Hey, hey, hey Bobby McGee, yeah La da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la da, la Hey, hey, hey, Bobby McGee, yeah

[@behindthesongpodcast]

Marc Topel Every woo accounted for!

[@stephanmenzel9457]

I think, Janis Joplin had a very very hard childhood and youth, because divorced parent, the bad Akne and always bullyjing. Always a special sensitive charakter and never found the harmony, what she always looking for. She wasted her life by sex, drugs and alcohol. A poor lonely girl, so sad. Her life and death makes me cry. RIP lonely girl

[@theresasummers7387]

Who was Brian Jones?

[@emeraldkimble7602]

Fellinis wife guilietta massina was the actress i. ,a strands

[@Hithere-ek4qt]

I’m sure I’ll irritate a lot of folks when I say I was never impressed with Janis. But That’s how it is, deal with it

[@novallasuter5265]

I can appreciate and respect your opinion. But your attitude sucks.

[@bobhsohi704]

Me either !

[@joejones9520]

it's because you dont get singing and that the way she sang is almost impossible to emulate.

[@gerrymeyer813]

Janis Joplin was good, she was weird

[@behindthesongpodcast]

Gerry Meyer She was good-weird.

[@Caperhere]

Socially awkward. If people hadn’t othered her so badly, she may not have felt that insecurity. Kris didn’t think her weird. He spent a month with her as her lover.

[@scallopohare9431]

She was unique, and you clearly do not understand the upheaval going on at that time.

[@joanleece6751]

Hippie days were awesome for me but not for my parents

[@brendalarge3514]

I was so sad you didn't play me and Bobby McGee after all the talking.....how could you not play it ?