The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #31963   Message #2379338
Posted By: Genie
02-Jul-08 - 02:27 PM
Thread Name: Updating a classic!
Subject: RE: Updating a classic! Me & Bobby McGee
Suffet,
I like your additional verse to Me And Bobby McGee, but I must take issue with your using Janis Joplin's lyric modification of the chorus and calling it Kristofferson's "original.

Kris's original chorus is:

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 ...

Personally, I think Kris's original lyric is cleverer and more memorable. Janis's version is the best known, but I'd never try to 'do' Janis, so I sing the song more the way Kris does, and I use his original lyrics.   Nothing wrong with doing Janis's version, but I hope her own lyric revision doesn't come to be thought of as the original lyrics to the song.