Janis Joplin: Me and Bobby McGee Meaning

Song Released: 1971

Me and Bobby McGee Lyrics

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way to New Orleans.

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna,
I was...

1. anonymous

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   May 11th 2017 !⃝

   Peace comes when one has no worldly attachments and with this we find freedom!
2. anonymous

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   Mar 15th 2012 !⃝

   When Janis Joplin sang this song, everyone figured Bobby McGee was a man. But the song was originally written by Janis' former boyfriend Kris Kristofferson. And when Kriss wrote the song, Bobby McGee was a girl In fact, Bobby McGee was an alias for Janis Joplin herself.
   
   At the start of the song, Bobby McGee and her boyfriend are backpacking all over America. They hitch a ride with a truck driver. Bobby sings, to entertain the trucker, while her lover plays the harmonica (a harmonica is often called a "blues harp," and "harpoon" is another nickname for the harmonica).
   
   We're led to believe that Bobby McGeee is a free spirit who hates the idea of being tied down. For that reason, Bobby eventually abandons the lover, in search of some elusive place where he or she will be happy.
   
   The lover misses Bobby, but doesn't hold any grudges over being abandoned. The lover thinks Bobby was a rare and special person, and hopes Bobby finds whatever it is he/she is looking for.
   
   The lover draws one lesson: "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." That means we're only free if we have nothing. If we have friends, families, jobs, relationships, homes... then we're not really free, because we have ties and responsibilities. The only way to be completely free is not to have possessions or commitments or relationships.

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