Kris Kristofferson Wrote “Help Me Make It Through The Night” On An Oil Rig 50 Miles Offshore In The Gulf Of Mexico

The Highwaymen were always just as entertaining together off the stage as they were on the stage. That's evident in this bizarre-yet-informative interview from an Australian talk show called Hey Hey It's Saturday , which took place in 1991. Willie Nelson , Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson all sat down remotely - even though they were also in Australia - and took questions from a man surrounded by puppets. If you are to watch the full interview from the Australian show, you'll hear Waylon doing a Willie Nelson impersonation, Johnny Cash talking about working with Elvis, Kris Kristofferson talking about his janitorial days , and Willie talking about what was then his future music plans. It's actually really cool to see them all interview together - especially in this alternative form of interviewing. At one point, the show host brought up that Kris Kristofferson was both a helicopter pilot and a Rhodes Scholar, and somehow ended up as a country music artist. Kris maintained that he had no regrets about chasing his dream, and obviously looking back at this story now in 2024, it all worked out for the legendary singer-songwriter. And while we are on the topic of songwriting, Kristofferson was asked later in the interview how he crafts his own songs and lyrics. Kris admitted that he - for the most part - would let the songs come to him: "I don't know where they come from, which is kind of scary. I'm not a disciplined writer. I just write as the mood hits me. It usually happens when I'm alone." Kristofferson was then asked specifically about how "Help Me Make It Through The Night" came to be, and as always, Kris had a one-of-a-kind story (reminiscent of the one when he pitched Johnny Cash a song ) for when and where he wrote his all-time classic song: "Yeah, I was on an oil platform 50 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico - a drilling platform. Sitting on the top of it in a helicopter, by myself. That's when I wrote that song." Sounds about right. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like sitting atop an oil rig in a chopper - that's at least how it seemed to work for the late great Kristofferson. You can hear more from Kris Kristofferson and the rest of The Highwaymen in the clip below:

Cue it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x0b7XOUmH0&pp=ygU0aGVscCBtZSBtYWtlIGl0IHRocm91Z2ggdGhlIG5pZ2h0IGtyaXMga3Jpc3RvZmZlcnNvbg%3D%3D