Janis Joplin, in all fairness to Miller, could have just sung the “la la la” part at the end of the song the whole time and infused it with more heart and grit. When Miller pulls his ‘harpoon’ (harmonica) out of his dirty red bandanna, he “blows sad while Bobby sings the blues.” When Joplin does the same, she “plays soft while Bobby sings the blues.” And, in Joplin’s version, “with them windshield wipers slappin’ time and Bobby clappin’ hands with mine” became “windshield wipers slappin’ time, I was holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine.” Bobby, in the original song, was a woman but in the Joplin version, Bobby was changed to a man. You will notice, however, upon close listening, the changes in the lyrics. One thing that is different about the Roger Miller version is that you can more easily understand the lyrics, and thus the story of the song. Kristofferson himself taught Joplin the song, even tweaking some of the lyrics, but he wasn’t even aware that she had recorded the song until he heard it on the radio after she had already passed away. He won numerous Grammy awards and was also an actor in movies and television.īy the way, Kenny Rogers & First Edition released their version of the song later the same year.ĭespite Roger Miller’s huge success, Joplin’s version of Me and Bobby McGee has completely overshadowed his and all other versions of the song. He is known for such hits as King of the Road, Dang Me, England Swings, Husbands and Wives, and many others. During the 1960s, Miller was no stranger to top ten hits on the country charts, adult contemporary charts, and pop charts. There was nothing pop about it though, and it did not make its way into the pop charts. It was a fairly big hit on the Billboard Country chart, going to no. Roger Miller released his version, the first recording of the song, in 1969. But, the first to record Me and Bobby McGee was Roger Miller.

In fact, he may well be one the greatest songwriters of all time. Remember, he is a songwriter who has often written songs for other folks. I lift Kristofferson out of the list above, but he has, of course, recorded the song and performed it on numerous occasions. It was written by Kris Kristofferson, and Fred Foster (head of Monument Records).

Lyrics me and bobby mcgee roger miller