この songbookシリーズは、好きな歌の歌詞とイメージしたヴィジュアルの組み合わせです。必ずしも合致はしていませんが…

Me and Bobby McGee / Kris Kristffason, Janis Joplin

freedam’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
nothin’  ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free

Janis Joplinのカヴァーで知られるこの曲を、なぜ彼女が歌う事になったのか？
長田弘の「アメリカの心の歌-1996」によって、Kris Kristoffasonと共に
過ごした１月あまりの短かな日々にあることを知ることになる。
ジャニスの死後、1971年のアルバム「 Pearl」に収められたこの曲は
翌年1月にシングルカットされ、Billboard Hot100の1位を2週連続で記録する。

Pearl 収録前、死の３ヶ月前の汽車によるカナダツアーで繰り返し歌われ
まるで国歌のようだったと「ジャニス ブルースに死す」にはあるが
そのドキュメンタリー映画「Festival Express」では見る事ができない。

2008年の、NHKBS「ジャニス・ジョプリン 恋人たちの座談会」という番組では、かつての恋人たちが4人集まり、ジャニスとの恋の話をするという内容。
時系列が整理されていて、心の変遷と歌の流れが分かるが全てでは無い。
そこには Kris Kristoffason の姿は無く、話の中にも出てはこない。しかし共に時間を過ごし、Me and Bobby McGeeという歌を提供したことは事実なのだろう。
ちなみに、最初のレコーディングはGordon Lightfoot 1970

「Bobby」はKris Kristoffasonのオリジナルでは女性で
Janis Joplinのカヴァーでは男性になっている。
歌うシンガーの性別によって、heがsheになったり逆もよくあるけれど
どちらでも使える名前は便利かもしれない。
「Sunny」も両用だけれど歌詞では「you」
「you and I」と言うのが、誰が歌ってもいい言い回しかも知れない。
Elvis Costelloの「She」は女性が歌うと「He」になるのかな？

"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance On Me." Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.

The suggestion for the title was a cordial challenge from producer and Monument Records founder Fred Foster to Kris Kristofferson. The titular character was named for a studio secretary, Barbara "Bobbie" McKee, but Kristofferson had misheard her surname. He explained that he was trying to convey the despair of the last scene of Federico Fellini’s La Strada in which a broken, war-torn, inebriated man (played by Anthony Quinn) stares up from the beach at the night's stars, and breaks down sobbing.

Me and Bobby McGee
Fred Foster, Kris Kristffason

[Verse 1]
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

[Verse 2]
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

[Verse 3]
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.

[Verse 4]
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

[Verse 5]
Then somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away
Lookin' for the home I hope she'll find
And I'd trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday
Holdin' Bobby's body next to mine

[Verse 6]
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' left is all she left for me
Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues
And buddy, that was good enough for me
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee