Indeed, the lyrics are no great philosophy. The catch lines of the chorus sound like deep wisdom but are not properly worked out. The song was intended as country staple food, almost improvised on the spot. "Hey Kris, we need a song about hitchhikers and sex!" - "OK, let's call it Me and ..., uh ..." - "Why not Babby McKee, that's my secretary." - "I'll be back in an hour."

Songs can strike a chord unintentionally, or perhaps subconsciously, transcending their shallow lyrics. As I wrote before, JJ unleashed this one, so that now it is a plaintive anthem of freedom and love, not freedom vs. love. Simple "na-na"s can do the trick, when sung in a certain manner to a susceptible audience at a particular time. The era was over when in the 1980s different notions of freedom dominated the public consciousness. From time to time, and perhaps increasingly so right now, we must remind ourselves that neither the old nor the newer problems of freedom have been solved to the extent that can realistically be hoped for. (I do not think overthrowing "capitalism" is a realistic concept, but short of that, there is a lot we can and must do.) Janis Joplin has not lost her power, even if her "Mercedes Benz" is now used to advertise those cars!