Bobby McGee

Some time ago I was listening to Janis Joplin's song, Me And Bobby McGee. There is one line in the song that I remember always being a bit confused about: Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. It almost sounds as if freedom is not important or that it is something casual. I decided to look up the lyrics to the song and see if I could figure out what the song was referring to.

I think that I was thrown off by thinking out of context. When I think of freedom, my first thought is political. We live in a free country and talk a lot about freedom. That is a high value for Americans and our country was founded upon that ideal.

But, this song isn't about that at all. In the song, Janis and Bobby are footloose and fancy free, hitchhiking and wandering aimlessly around the country. She's talking about another kind of freedom that was such a topic in the 60's in the US, and almost sounds romantic in some way. It's great not being tied down, free to do whatever you want, to roam wherever you want. What a life they were having! No cares, no worries, no entanglements.

But, at some point, Bobby decided that this wasn't what he wanted. Probably he tried to convince Janis to settle down and make a home. But, she wouldn't consider that and he decided to get off and settle down. As the song says, "...I let him slip away. He was looking for that home, and I hope he found it." But, the result was not what she thought because she goes on to say, "...But I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday." And that's the context for the line, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

By hanging on to and striving for freedom, she lost all that was truly valuable. Life was meant to be lived in community, from the larger community down to the family and to that one person to whom we are to be joined for life. And yet, we often continue to chafe at the restrictions that we face when were are tied to and committed to another. The teen can't wait to get away from home some day and as time goes on, the list of things or people that tie us down gets ever longer, but none of those are as binding as marriage. There are times that any of us consider--even if it's only for a fleeting moment--just giving up and running away, and the high divorce rate points this out so clearly.

The writer of this song was actually pretty smart. How sad to think of the pain here. She kept her freedom, but in doing so, she lost it all. And now, in retrospect, she'd be willing to die to get back just one of those yesterdays with Bobby McGee.


We were not created to be alone. All of us, whether married or not, need the company of others, and more than just company, we need to be bound by commitments. We need the chance to make some sacrifices, some adjustments in our lives. We need to be in community with others.

In some ways this applies to the church as well. Christianity admits that life was never meant to be just an individual striving for God, for heaven, or for nirvana. We are meant to be in community, and it's not good to walk away from that community just because problems or tensions arise. We lose more than we gain when we are not willing to make the sacrifices needed to stay together.

Obviously it's not always possible to preserve a relationship, but what do others think of this? Do we not tend toward giving up too soon?