Janis Joplin — Me and Bobby McGee
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Length: 4:26
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Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' fer a train
When I's feeling nearly faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way to New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I's playing soft while Bobby sung the blues, n-yeah
Windshield wipers slapping time I's, holding Bobby's hand in mine and
We sang every song that driver knew
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, I mean nothing honey if it ain't free, no no
Yeah feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun
Yeah Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done
Yeah Bobby baby kept me from the cold world
One day 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 one single yesterday
To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, and that's all that Bobby left me, yeah
But feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues
Hey feeling good was good enough for me, hmm-mm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
Lord I called him my lover, I called him my man
I said I called him my lover just the best I can c'mon, c'mon
Bobby now, c'mon Bobby McGee
La da la la la, la da la la la la la
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee yeah.
When I's feeling nearly faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
And rode us all the way to New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I's playing soft while Bobby sung the blues, n-yeah
Windshield wipers slapping time I's, holding Bobby's hand in mine and
We sang every song that driver knew
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, I mean nothing honey if it ain't free, no no
Yeah feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun
Yeah Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done
Yeah Bobby baby kept me from the cold world
One day 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 one single yesterday
To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, and that's all that Bobby left me, yeah
But feeling good was easy Lord when he sang the blues
Hey feeling good was good enough for me, hmm-mm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah
Lord I called him my lover, I called him my man
I said I called him my lover just the best I can c'mon, c'mon
Bobby now, c'mon Bobby McGee
La da la la la, la da la la la la la
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee yeah.
Comments (184)add comment
VH1 wrote:
Totally. But what do you think of "Rihanna's most emotional performance of love on the brain" (youtube)?
rihanna‘s most emotional performance of love on the brain
Even today she would put all those freaking Madonnas, Rihannas, Lady Gagas, Beyonces and the whole forelorn and dreadful rest of so called "singers" in their place!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
Totally. But what do you think of "Rihanna's most emotional performance of love on the brain" (youtube)?
rihanna‘s most emotional performance of love on the brain
Bless your heart.
ambrebalte wrote:
Wonderful! Thank you!
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Wonderful! Thank you!
timmus wrote:
Saw this comment earlier today (when "Me and Bobby McGee" was playing) and had to look this up. Found it! What if Janis Joplin Were an Avon Lady
I still remember a 1980s radio comedy bit about "What If Janis Joplin Was An Avon Salesman". They had a doorbell ringing, the door opening, and about 10 seconds of the vocal scatting from this song with "avon" "avon" mixed in, followed by the door slamming shut.
Saw this comment earlier today (when "Me and Bobby McGee" was playing) and had to look this up. Found it! What if Janis Joplin Were an Avon Lady
westslope wrote:
1982. Moscow, Soviet Union, apartment of a political dissident. I am 11 years old and sitting in front of a cassette tape recorder, alternating between playing bootlegs of both Janis's and Kris's versions of the song. My first attempts at learning English. Looking back, not bad lessons at all!
I still love both takes, for different reasons.
This song was written by Kris Kristofferson who was a pretty decent country-folk singer-songwriter in his own right.
1982. Moscow, Soviet Union, apartment of a political dissident. I am 11 years old and sitting in front of a cassette tape recorder, alternating between playing bootlegs of both Janis's and Kris's versions of the song. My first attempts at learning English. Looking back, not bad lessons at all!
I still love both takes, for different reasons.
I still remember a 1980s radio comedy bit about "What If Janis Joplin Was An Avon Salesman". They had a doorbell ringing, the door opening, and about 10 seconds of the vocal scatting from this song with "avon" "avon" mixed in, followed by the door slamming shut.
I mean, didn't Kristofferson crystalize everything with the lyric "I'd trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday..."
radioparadise9 wrote:
As you said: you just don't get it.
I figure there's a lot of things you don't get - not my problem.
Don't be mean. We're all friends here.
As you said: you just don't get it.
I figure there's a lot of things you don't get - not my problem.
Don't be mean. We're all friends here.
Every time I hear this now, I re-see the barroom brawl in the first episode of season two of The Punisher. :^\
This is one song that was way overplayed but i never got tired of.
AhhtheMusic wrote:
As you said: you just don't get it.
I figure there's a lot of things you don't get - not my problem.
I just can't take her. Never could. I don't get why she even "made" it, nor why she is still adored by so many.
As you said: you just don't get it.
I figure there's a lot of things you don't get - not my problem.
westslope wrote:
Yes, he certainly was, BUT Janis was the singer who brought this song to life.
Ask 1000 people the name of the singer they would match to "Me and Bobby McGee", and I'd be willing to bet my next paycheque that 999 of them would say, "Janis Joplin." I know Kristofferson wrote it, but I would still be one of the 999.
And I would not be surprised if Kris would be, too.
This song was written by Kris Kristofferson who was a pretty decent country-folk singer-songwriter in his own right.
Yes, he certainly was, BUT Janis was the singer who brought this song to life.
Ask 1000 people the name of the singer they would match to "Me and Bobby McGee", and I'd be willing to bet my next paycheque that 999 of them would say, "Janis Joplin." I know Kristofferson wrote it, but I would still be one of the 999.
And I would not be surprised if Kris would be, too.
One of my few 10s!
As a young kid visiting my mother's family during holidays in bucolic Coffeyville, Kansas, I recall simple lazy breakfasts and lunches followed by rabbit-hunting and mistle-toe-shooting adventures and elaborate lengthy dinners followed by cheerful, chatty card or board games, but there was always lots of music, too... My cousin Toni used to love to put a stack of records on the turntable as background tunes, and this song -- along with "Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry -- was a family favorite, and we'd all sing along, and if we were lucky, Aunt Charlotte might be coaxed to go sit down at her piano, with all of us gathered 'round, and, though she could expertly play everything from Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag (my fave) to Liszt, she'd do her best to figure out almost anything we requested. Thanks, RP, for stoking the synaptic blazes with precious memories...
ambrebalte wrote:
I love this comment! It reminds me to be thankful for everything I have. I live in Germany, not too far from the beautiful Alsatian villages, and often (maybe not often enough) realize how great it is to walk, cycle, swim in the lakes, wander in the beautiful forests, etc. I´m (physically) not a kid anymore, but we (with our mostly-grown kids) still hang out around the campfire, playing guitar, a-smokin and a-drinkin, singing our hearts out... Life can be so good, when look at it right!
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
I love this comment! It reminds me to be thankful for everything I have. I live in Germany, not too far from the beautiful Alsatian villages, and often (maybe not often enough) realize how great it is to walk, cycle, swim in the lakes, wander in the beautiful forests, etc. I´m (physically) not a kid anymore, but we (with our mostly-grown kids) still hang out around the campfire, playing guitar, a-smokin and a-drinkin, singing our hearts out... Life can be so good, when look at it right!
ambrebalte wrote:
Thank you for sharing that recollection. The environment you grew up in was what many of us city kids were longing for. Wonderful! I was a sophomore in H.S. when this was released - sadly - posthumously.
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Thank you for sharing that recollection. The environment you grew up in was what many of us city kids were longing for. Wonderful! I was a sophomore in H.S. when this was released - sadly - posthumously.
I prefer Gordon Lightfoot's version.
ambrebalte wrote:
Beautiful!
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Beautiful!
wendyleefrancis1 wrote:
Funny, this is the only time I can listen to her without instant PSD.
God I hate this song.
Funny, this is the only time I can listen to her without instant PSD.
Love Janis.
Like this song.
This song is definitely overplayed here...
wendyleefrancis1 wrote:
well might be way overplayed (how about the orignial from kris, bill?) but its a treasure of song anyway.
but like i said, you get and got to hear it too much on too many occasion...
God I hate this song.
well might be way overplayed (how about the orignial from kris, bill?) but its a treasure of song anyway.
but like i said, you get and got to hear it too much on too many occasion...
God I hate this song.
I vote again : 10 !
ambrebalte wrote:
Gorgeous. A find tribute. Thank you.
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Gorgeous. A find tribute. Thank you.
In the vein of classic blues Women, JJ brought it like a soul
from the TX/LA state lines.
But for some dingleberries, men screaming rock is ok.
women,
not so much.
Well, we know who is getting action, . . . and the miserable sods who aren't.
from the TX/LA state lines.
But for some dingleberries, men screaming rock is ok.
women,
not so much.
Well, we know who is getting action, . . . and the miserable sods who aren't.
A nicer version here
Kaisersosay wrote:
I agree unlimitedly about the genius, legend, authenticity, charisma, influence, etc. but just like for Bob, I have a problem with the voice, although I'm trying my best to get accustomed.
Did somebody step on a cat,,,,,,,,,,
I agree unlimitedly about the genius, legend, authenticity, charisma, influence, etc. but just like for Bob, I have a problem with the voice, although I'm trying my best to get accustomed.
Superlative doesn't describe. Check out the documentary "Little Girl Blue" about Janis. Very beautiful and sad.
Did somebody step on a cat,,,,,,,,,,
VH1 wrote:
YES, YES, YES! Love Janis, love this song. Her best.
Even today she would put all those freaking Madonnas, Rihannas, Lady Gagas, Beyonces and the whole forelorn and dreadful rest of so called "singers" in their place!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
YES, YES, YES! Love Janis, love this song. Her best.
just supported again and i highly recommend you do the same
Cracker's Euro-Trash Girl followed by an American-Trash Girl ;-) I'll give you a lift, Janis!
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" - this is the perfect synthesis of lyric and performance. Breathtaking.
wgsu_1978 wrote:
What he said.
One of those great classic tunes that I'd be very happy to never hear ever again. So a 7.
What he said.
"La da la la la, la da la la la da la
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah"
or
"I was gonna write more words,
but then I got high."
La da da la la la Bobby McGee yeah"
or
"I was gonna write more words,
but then I got high."
This is great song, and Janis Joplin is one of the greatest. I like this version much more.
Dont be over-sophisticated, this is great performance full of pure true soul. It will survive much after we will.
So take it easy and enjoy it.
" In the moments of silence
I hear again
Janis Joplin singing
an old blues on Bob Mcgee"
Dont be over-sophisticated, this is great performance full of pure true soul. It will survive much after we will.
So take it easy and enjoy it.
" In the moments of silence
I hear again
Janis Joplin singing
an old blues on Bob Mcgee"
Even today she would put all those freaking Madonnas, Rihannas, Lady Gagas, Beyonces and the whole forelorn and dreadful rest of so called "singers" in their place!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
Sing it Pearl! You're the best! Were then, still are!
The ending of this song is almost as annoying and monotonous as the ending to Layla :^ / I mean, you've got decent tunes and then you just run them into the ground :^ /
Huge Kristofferson fan, but it all comes down to urgency. Kris's version makes you think it's all been said and done. Janis puts an immediacy into this song that makes you want to take her hand and say "we need to have a talk about all this...".
Janis Joplin - ugh! Kris K's version is far superior.
Love Kris's original country version. After all, it is a Country Song.
This Otis Reddingized version ain't bad either.
This Otis Reddingized version ain't bad either.
The fidelity of this original version really sucks, which makes for terrible segues with the hi-fi selections on RP.
Lazarus wrote:
This cover is one of the best examples of how the singer's diction is a perfect match for the lyrics of the song— Janis Joplin's voice sounds exactly like the character you would expect to express the lyrics of this song as a true experience...
this really is a great song, and a brilliant cover...
precisely : ) fucka' rocks
This cover is one of the best examples of how the singer's diction is a perfect match for the lyrics of the song— Janis Joplin's voice sounds exactly like the character you would expect to express the lyrics of this song as a true experience...
this really is a great song, and a brilliant cover...
precisely : ) fucka' rocks
Exactly what I needed to help kickoff the second half of this workday! ☺️👏
Just sang along as loud as I dared (I'm at work). This is my go-to song when I do karaoke. Don't judge! Karaoke can be great when you've got decent singers doing it... 
I don't really like Janis Joplin but I do like this one song. Raising the rating from 6 to 7
This song was written by Kris Kristofferson who was a pretty decent country-folk singer-songwriter in his own right.
AhhtheMusic wrote:
Yea, I feel the same way. She did have some great support musicians though. Her vocals, just tired with way to much booze and cigarettes.
I just can't take her. Never could. I don't get why she even "made" it, nor why she is still adored by so many.
Yea, I feel the same way. She did have some great support musicians though. Her vocals, just tired with way to much booze and cigarettes.
Most people don't know this song was written by Chris Christopherson. Behind every great woman...? I'm just sayin'
wgsu_1978 wrote:
I keep thinking "one of these days, I'm going to get sick of this song. I was never a big Janis fan anyway, and I've heard it a million times." But it never seems to happen. It is a classic story telling song that I don't seem to mind hearing on a regular basis. Can't say that for a lot of other songs.
One of those great classic tunes that I'd be very happy to never hear ever again. So a 7.
I keep thinking "one of these days, I'm going to get sick of this song. I was never a big Janis fan anyway, and I've heard it a million times." But it never seems to happen. It is a classic story telling song that I don't seem to mind hearing on a regular basis. Can't say that for a lot of other songs.
wgsu_1978 wrote:
Good way to put it. I usually leave the rating blank but then I get them on PSD. I am so tired of Led Zep, Pink Floyd & Dire Straits but I don't want to rate them low because I don't dislike them and I don't want to rate them a"6" so I won't hear them on PSD. So I'm stuck hitting PSD over and over...
One of those great classic tunes that I'd be very happy to never hear ever again. So a 7.
Good way to put it. I usually leave the rating blank but then I get them on PSD. I am so tired of Led Zep, Pink Floyd & Dire Straits but I don't want to rate them low because I don't dislike them and I don't want to rate them a"6" so I won't hear them on PSD. So I'm stuck hitting PSD over and over...
jameshay wrote:
Interesting way of looking at things.. I take a different slant - I happen to have this on a CD at home, but I rarely listen to the CD - not because I don't like the song, more because I like listening to RP so much. And like others have noted here many times, I reckon that's because of the way Bill sequences the songs, with some familiar ones and some I've never heard before (some of which have become part of my CD collection at home). Sure, Bill puts the odd one in now and then that makes me think 'why?'. But then I just remember all the great music that he's introduced me to - and some where my initial reaction was something close to 'why?' that I've come to love. Thanks Bill.
What Bill does is an art form. Even if I don't like this song or that, there's usually a reason for it to be in the specific mix. Brilliant!
Interesting way of looking at things.. I take a different slant - I happen to have this on a CD at home, but I rarely listen to the CD - not because I don't like the song, more because I like listening to RP so much. And like others have noted here many times, I reckon that's because of the way Bill sequences the songs, with some familiar ones and some I've never heard before (some of which have become part of my CD collection at home). Sure, Bill puts the odd one in now and then that makes me think 'why?'. But then I just remember all the great music that he's introduced me to - and some where my initial reaction was something close to 'why?' that I've come to love. Thanks Bill.
What Bill does is an art form. Even if I don't like this song or that, there's usually a reason for it to be in the specific mix. Brilliant!
bbunyard wrote:
Interesting way of looking at things.. I take a different slant - I happen to have this on a CD at home, but I rarely listen to the CD - not because I don't like the song, more because I like listening to RP so much. And like others have noted here many times, I reckon that's because of the way Bill sequences the songs, with some familiar ones and some I've never heard before (some of which have become part of my CD collection at home). Sure, Bill puts the odd one in now and then that makes me think 'why?'. But then I just remember all the great music that he's introduced me to - and some where my initial reaction was something close to 'why?' that I've come to love. Thanks Bill.
"... I don't think there's much room for this anymore. Anyone who enjoys this sort of music, likely already has it on cd or lp at home.
Interesting way of looking at things.. I take a different slant - I happen to have this on a CD at home, but I rarely listen to the CD - not because I don't like the song, more because I like listening to RP so much. And like others have noted here many times, I reckon that's because of the way Bill sequences the songs, with some familiar ones and some I've never heard before (some of which have become part of my CD collection at home). Sure, Bill puts the odd one in now and then that makes me think 'why?'. But then I just remember all the great music that he's introduced me to - and some where my initial reaction was something close to 'why?' that I've come to love. Thanks Bill.
Tired.
I just can't take her. Never could. I don't get why she even "made" it, nor why she is still adored by so many.
One of those great classic tunes that I'd be very happy to never hear ever again. So a 7.
I see that listeners are divided on this title as well... I personally usually don't like what Janis Joplin did, but this song is an exception, I enjoy listening to it. It has a retro sound that goes further than the hippies and it brings a little spring in my step :)
bbunyard wrote:
What's about Move Over?
"Janis has some great songs..."
Name one. I cannot. RP has access to seemingly limitless interesting and entertaining music. I don't think there's much room for this anymore. Anyone who enjoys this sort of music, likely already has it on cd or lp at home.
Name one. I cannot. RP has access to seemingly limitless interesting and entertaining music. I don't think there's much room for this anymore. Anyone who enjoys this sort of music, likely already has it on cd or lp at home.
What's about Move Over?
"Janis has some great songs..."
Name one. I cannot. RP has access to seemingly limitless interesting and entertaining music. I don't think there's much room for this anymore. Anyone who enjoys this sort of music, likely already has it on cd or lp at home.
Name one. I cannot. RP has access to seemingly limitless interesting and entertaining music. I don't think there's much room for this anymore. Anyone who enjoys this sort of music, likely already has it on cd or lp at home.
Janis has some great songs, this isn't one of them. Over played and over rated.
stevesancarlos wrote:
>>we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.<<
Incredibly overrated. Both the song and the performer. Let it go, hippies. Move on.
>>we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.<<
Incredibly overrated. Both the song and the performer. Let it go, hippies. Move on.
One of the few 10s I've ever given. After all it's Janis...
This is the only song of her, i can stand. Not my taste, the sreaming on the end at a lot of her songs. I also dont like, people want to be social, and then kill themselves with drugs.
1 of the most powerful voices and songwriting talents ever to grace this Earth! Sometimes the quality of her passion just makes me swoon
Simply Sublime
Ugh. Awful.
Dripping with emotion that sounds sincere. Has always made me stop and stare into space.
Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of churches be dancing buck ass naked all across the world like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners... we love this cover song... it tweaks our nipples... love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...
Sorry, this ALWAYS made me want to blow up my radio, starting with my hand held transistor radio in the 70's....just irritating!
That awful version by Willie Nelson did it for me - irritating tuneless shit.
I am not her biggest fan, but this is really nice!
Jack Jersey ruined this song for me.
Politics blah blah blah blah blah. Human all too human! Stop it!
Webfoot wrote:
Thin reference to the music. No thanks. Always a solid nine for me (the music).
Janis Joplin's diction is perfect for this cover... I gave this cover one of my rare 10's... love it... thank you for sharing your opinion with me...
Thin reference to the music. No thanks. Always a solid nine for me (the music).
Janis Joplin's diction is perfect for this cover... I gave this cover one of my rare 10's... love it... thank you for sharing your opinion with me...
Lazarus wrote:
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose..." love this cover...
these two dudes are even starting to look alike—
Thin reference to the music. No thanks. Always a solid nine for me (the music).
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose..." love this cover...
these two dudes are even starting to look alike—
NSA collected US email records in bulk for more than two years under Obama
The Obama administration for more than two years permitted the National Security Agency to continue collecting vast amounts of records detailing the email and internet usage of Americans, according to secret documents obtained by the Guardian.
The documents indicate that under the program, launched in 2001, a federal judge sitting on the secret surveillance panel called the Fisa court would approve a bulk collection order for internet metadata "every 90 days". A senior administration official confirmed the program, stating that it ended in 2011.
The collection of these records began under the Bush administration's wide-ranging warrantless surveillance program, collectively known by the NSA codename Stellar Wind...
Thin reference to the music. No thanks. Always a solid nine for me (the music).
The greatest version of a great song - first one I learned to play and still love it.
LizK wrote:
What an awesome album . . .
AHHH Pearl!
What an awesome album . . .
juanos wrote:
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose". pure and utter wisdom
hayduke2 wrote:
Sunday Morning Coming Down (IIRC) is another one of them songs of his that goes right to it as well.
This Lady lived a wild artist life, Mr. Rdo
Kris K's life offers strong lessons as well, I loved some his appearances in Peckinpah's films (Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia! Convoy!)
for me, Kris is one Super Cool Dude and Janis's is a Life History worth checking out
Kris K's life offers strong lessons as well, I loved some his appearances in Peckinpah's films (Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia! Convoy!)
for me, Kris is one Super Cool Dude and Janis's is a Life History worth checking out
Sunday Morning Coming Down (IIRC) is another one of them songs of his that goes right to it as well.
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose". pure and utter wisdom
We be dancing like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners... love this cover...
Janis - the Amy Winehouse of her time -Gone too soon!
bam23 wrote:
I'm with you on this one. I think she casually slaughters a decent song.
This is a really good composition, but this rendition is just a tad (?) bit overwrought. Bizarrely, I prefer the Grateful Dead's live version. Bob Weir is a major shouter, but Janis Joplin really screams too much here.
I'm with you on this one. I think she casually slaughters a decent song.
This cover is one of the best examples of how the singer's diction is a perfect match for the lyrics of the song— Janis Joplin's voice sounds exactly like the character you would expect to express the lyrics of this song as a true experience...
this really is a great song, and a brilliant cover...
trivia: This was Janis' only #1 and I think it made it there after she died.
There's a new movie in production, Janis Joplin: Get It While You Can, starring Amy Adams. Should be interesting, at least.
rdo wrote:
Same goes for Elvis. Or Garth Brooks. Or <insert pop group here>.
This is a really good song. I don't know the background. I am not sure someone deserves the kind of respect she gets just for performing though. If she didn't write it. Still, it's a great performance and artistic recording. But I have a feeling she gets kudos for the wrong reasons.
Same goes for Elvis. Or Garth Brooks. Or <insert pop group here>.
Pretty good song for a helicopter pilot and an actor. 
AHHH Pearl!
Everybody in my church loves this cover... best song Kristofferson ever wrote...
good grief
This Lady lived a wild artist life, Mr. Rdo
Kris K's life offers strong lessons as well, I loved some his appearances in Peckinpah's films (Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia! Convoy!)
for me, Kris is one Super Cool Dude and Janis's is a Life History worth checking out
Kris K's life offers strong lessons as well, I loved some his appearances in Peckinpah's films (Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia! Convoy!)
for me, Kris is one Super Cool Dude and Janis's is a Life History worth checking out
Always reminds me of my youth hitchhiking around. Great memories and even a few nightmares. But Freedom was the word.
This is a really good song. I don't know the background. I am not sure someone deserves the kind of respect she gets just for performing though. If she didn't write it. Still, it's a great performance and artistic recording. But I have a feeling she gets kudos for the wrong reasons.
jmsmy wrote:
I agree!
Great song Kris.
Great record Janis
Great record Janis
I agree!
drop what I'm doin to wrap my head in this classic, pure joy
10
10
Decoy wrote:
It's such a great classic. I guess there's not much we can say about it.
Surprisingly few comments for this song. You don't even have the arbitrarily Romeotuma we be dancing comment.
It's such a great classic. I guess there's not much we can say about it.
Great song Kris.
Great record Janis
Great record Janis
juanos wrote:
in a box...
ahh... what a song!... what a singer!!! what a performer!!!... oh Janis where art thou??
in a box...
Surprisingly few comments for this song. You don't even have the arbitrarily Romeotuma we be dancing comment.
Classic
alanthecowboy wrote:
Roger Miller, actually. KK did a cover as well... According to Wikipedia, that is, FWIW.
I'm not sure if it's really a cover if you wrote the tune, but Roger did record it first.
Roger Miller, actually. KK did a cover as well... According to Wikipedia, that is, FWIW.
I'm not sure if it's really a cover if you wrote the tune, but Roger did record it first.
Nice Music
This is a really good composition, but this rendition is just a tad (?) bit overwrought. Bizarrely, I prefer the Grateful Dead's live version. Bob Weir is a major shouter, but Janis Joplin really screams too much here.
Sublime!!!!
ahh... what a song!... what a singer!!! what a performer!!!... oh Janis where art thou??
cAPSLOCK wrote:
Open your mind and enjoy life!
Never really liked this one...
Open your mind and enjoy life!
Never really liked this one...
Elvis Costello presents Spectacle: Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, John Mellencamp, Norah Jones, Me and Bobby McGee
....." 'd trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday".... goose bumps all over.
"Who dares to say that Johnny Mellencamp has lost his great voice... From the coal mines of kentaky to the califormia sun, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul... the secrets of my soul... sounds really good... good enough for me. "
ubastard wrote:
Roger Miller, actually. KK did a cover as well... According to Wikipedia, that is, FWIW.
It IS impossible to overate this song IMO! The original by KK is just as brilliant
Roger Miller, actually. KK did a cover as well... According to Wikipedia, that is, FWIW.
That crazy keyboard ending would segue nicely into the Doors' LA Woman
Such a great song!
a_genuine_find wrote:
That's pretty funny!
over rated IMHO
That's pretty funny!
Goosebumps! 10
Time machine: I'm here in Beijing on this glorious sunny Christmas day, remembering this summer 76, when I was fifteen and heard this for the first time, thinking it was unfair that I was born in Europe, ten years too late to have been a part of the huge movements in the US. "Movement" was a magical word which included music, rock and roll (yes Lazarus and sex and drugs) an adventurous life and freedom, "on the road". All of this in a melting pot, mixing the very delusional perception we had about reality and our own desires of escaping the limited life of a small Alsatian Village in the middle of nowhere (that we used to call the "trou du cul du monde")
We had our own dissents and awareness coming up, demonstrating against nuclear power plants (my first and unique sitting!), ecological catastrophes...
We were aware though that we were lucky enough to live in a very beautiful, protected area: we could walk, and cycle, and go swimming in the lakes around, wandering in the beautiful forest; we used to camp outside at all time listening to this music around fire camps, with the very new portable tape-recorder (radio-cassette), smoking pot and drinking schnapps, one of us playing the guitar not yet dreaming about leaving, rather, to imagine other kind of jobs which would allow us to stay and make the place even better.
It was a wonderful period of time.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin acts like a "Madeleine de Proust" : the whole summer comes back, in all its details, to the point that I can almost smell the dryness of the land and see the shimmering colours of the landscape, the steam emanating from the tared road which goes along the river Rhine.
Memories, memories.
Wow! Wonderful!