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Kris Kristofferson: 10 of his greatest songs

From his most enduring hit inspired by Sinatra to the song that enabled him to stop working for a living, we pick some highlights from the late singer’s long career

One of the great American songs – evident from those who have covered it, including Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and the Grateful Dead – was written by Kris Kristofferson and first a hit for Roger Miller. It’s hard to imagine a song with such a perfect opening verse (“Busted flat in Baton Rouge … feelin’ near as faded as my jeans”) could deliver on its setup, but Me and Bobby McGee does, with its single devastating line: “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” The details he notices are the things he doesn’t have – playing children, a sense of joy – and when he pleads, “On the Sunday morning sidewalks / Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned,” he’s not looking for relief from his hangover, but for something to stop him having to enter his own void.

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