It could tell a completely different story depending on who is singing it. Kristofferson changed the details, mentioning California and Kentucky to focus on the American experience, but that same raw emotion is evident in the lyrics.ĭue to the gender-neutral name of 'Bobby' male and female artists gravitated to cover the song. The emotional feeling at the end of the film dictated the lyrics and overall mood of the song. He's drunk and ends up howling at the stars on the beach.' That night, Quinn goes to a bar and gets in a fight. 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. '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 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,' Kristofferson told Performing Songwriter. 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. 'There was a Mickey Newbury song that was going through my mind-'Why You Been Gone So Long?' It had a rhythm that I really liked.

Kristofferson found inspiration for his lyrics from a film, as he explained to Performing Songwriter: When he pitched the title to Kristofferson, he misheard the name as 'Me and Bobby McGee,' and the name stuck. Co-written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, this iconic song was first conceptualized with just a title - inspired by a real person.įoster had a bit of a crush on Barbara 'Bobbie' McKee who was a secretary on Nashville's music row. 'Me and Bobby McGee' has become a rock classic over the years.

Johnny cash me and bobby mcgee