Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me” was the singer-songwriter’s only No. 1 country hit as a solo artist, which is an appropriate accolade for such a deeply intimate and personal song. The man behind hits like “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” wrote the song after an impromptu visit to Reverend Jimmie Rogers Snow’s church with fellow country artist Connie Smith.
As he explained on Ralph Emery’s Country Legends Vol. 2, the fateful moment ended with Kristofferson “weeping in public.”
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The Inspiration Behind Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me”
Kris Kristofferson told the story behind “Why Me” on Ralph Emery’s Country Legends Vol. 2. He set the scene the day after he and fellow country singer Connie Smith were performing in Cookeville, Tennessee. Smith invited Kristofferson to church at Nashville’s Evangel Temple, led by famed musician and evangelist Reverend Jimmie Snow. Kristofferson said he had a “profound religious experience” for the first time in his life.
“Everybody was kneeling down, and Jimmy said something like, ‘If anybody’s lost, please raise their hand.’ I was kneeling there. And I don’t go to church a lot, and the notion of raising my hand was out of the question. I thought, ‘I can’t imagine who’s doing this.’ All of a sudden, I felt my hand going up,” Kristofferson recalled. “I was hoping nobody else was looking because they had their heads bent over.”
“He said, ‘If anybody is ready to accept Jesus,’ something like this, come down to the front of the church,” he continued. “I thought that would never happen. And I found myself getting up and walking down with all these people. He said something to me like, ‘Are you ready to accept Jesus Christ in your life?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know. I didn’t know what I was doing there.’ He put me down, said, ‘Kneel down.’ I can’t even remember what he was saying but whatever it was was such a release for me that I found myself weeping in public. I felt this forgiveness that I didn’t know I needed.”
An Intimate Confession Turned No. 1 Hit
Sometimes, singer-songwriters draw inspiration from their imagination or past events, but Kris Kristofferson’s opening lines sound like they came straight from the altar. Why me, Lord, he begins. What have I ever done to deserve even one of the pleasures I’ve known? He sings in the chorus: Lord, help me, Jesus, I’ve wasted it. So, help me, Jesus, I know what I am. Now that I know that I’ve needed you. So, help me Jesus, my soul’s in Your hand.
As can sometimes happen with artists’ most viscerally personal songs, Kristofferson’s “Why Me” received tremendous critical acclaim upon its March 1973 release. The gospel-country track reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and achieved modest success at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the record gold.
Many other country artists recorded their versions of the enduring track, including Connie Smith, who had attended church with Kristofferson when he had his religious experience. Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe, and Elvis Presley were among other stars who covered the track.
Photo by Walter Bieri/EPA/Shutterstock
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