’)Kristofferson
By Kris Kristofferson"If it sounds country that's what it is, a country song"
-Kris Krisofferson, Intro to "Me and Bobby McGee"
1970 was a prodigious year for Rhodes Scholar turned country singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson - in that year he recorded and released two landmark albums, "Kristofferson" and "The Silver Tongued Devil and I". His debut album, "Kristofferson" Kris creates songs that are both biting in social commentary and brilliant in their understanding of the human experience.
Kris has little patience for public hypocrisy. In the opening track "Blame it on the Stones" he notes that rock music cat't be blamed for moral decay, it was already there -- "father's in the office nightly working overtime, trying to get the secretary to change her fickle mind, and he wonders why the children never seem to stay at home... blame it on the Rolling Stones". Kris often makes his points with satire and irony, in "The Law is for Protection Not the People" he declares "rules are rules and any fool can see, we don't need no hairy headed hippies, scaring decent folks like you and me," and "no wonder who those lawmen were protecting, when they nailed the savior to the cross".
The album has its share of vintage songs in the form of original versions of famous covers. In "Me and Bobby McGee" (made famous by Janis Joplin) Kris cynically observes that "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" and gives his take on the meaning of life "feeling good was good enough for me", and delivers a the powerful and heartbreaking "I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday". Closing out the album is "Sunday Morning Coming Down" (made famous by Johnny Cash) a song about the isolation caused by the fast life as it depicts a hung over and lonely narrator wandering the streets and seeing the joy and connectedness surrounding him - "on a Sunday morning sidewalk, wishing Lord that I was stone, because there\'s something in a Sunday, that makes a body feel alone".
Kris' gravely voice punctuates his songs, and he manages to give them a very personal feel. Listening to "Bobby McGee" and "Sunday Morning..." on this album provide a new experience on songs you may already know. In the album Kris displays a keen wit and "show don't tell" style that was once prominent in country music, particularly Outlaw Country, but is typically now tragically missing.
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