The second posthumous #1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 came three years after the first. In 1971, Janis Joplin’s cover of Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Me and Bobby BcGee’ reached the top spot a few months after her drug overdose death at 27.
Joplin recorded the song for her second album, Pearl. Kristofferson was out of the country at the time and didn’t know about the cover. He heard the track for the first time the day Joplin was found dead in her hotel room.
Pearl topped the albums chart while ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ gave Joplin her only #1 hit. She had previously made it to #12 with ‘Piece of My Heart.’
Pearl and Joplin’s debut album, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, were her only official solo recordings, but Columbia Records managed to release more than 20 live and/or compilation albums over the next five decades.
Nothing on them matched the impact or success of this song.
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train
When I was feelin’ near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
That rode us all the way in to New Orleans
I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I was playin’ soft while Bobby sang the blues, yeah
Windshield wipers slappin’ time, I was holdin’ Bobby’s hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew
[Chorus]
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’, honey, if it ain’t free, no no
Yeah, feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know feelin’ good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
[Verse 2]
From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun
Yeah, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done
Yeah, Bobby baby kept me from the cold
One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He’s lookin’ for that home, and I hope he finds it
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holdin’ Bobby’s body next to mine
[Chorus]
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, and that’s all that Bobby left me
Well feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
Hey feelin’ good was good enough for me, mhm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
[Bridge]
La da da la da da da, la da da da da da da
La da da la la la la na Bobby McGee yeah
La da la da la da, la na na na da
La la la la la Bobby McGee yeah
La da da la la la la la la la la la, la na na la na na la la
Hey now Bobby lo no Bobby McGee yeah
Lo la lo la la lo la la
Lo la la lo la la lo la la lo la la lo la la
Hey an’ a Bobby lo no Bobby McGee yeah
Lord, I called him my lover, called him my man
I said I called him my lover, did the best I can, come on
And a Bobby no, and a Bobby McGee yeah
Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee lo
Meet Me In Montauk 
Certainly a classic song by a talented woman.
so sad that she was only 27 years old when she died 😢