kris kristofferson
If God is good and omnipotent, do we account for the suffering and injustice that exists in the world?
German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz was concerned about this, and introduced the phrase "le meilleur des mondes possibles" in 1710, giving birth to at least the title of this song, released on Kristofferson's self-titled debut album from 1970, but first recorded by Roger Miller for HIS self-titled album on label Smash May 22, 1969.
Many of Kris' famous songs were captured by other artists before he landed a contract himself, with Monument. The album was later re-released as "Me and Bobby McGee", after Janis Joplin's hit single from her posthumously released album "Pearl" ... and THEN became a bestseller.
I was running thru the summer rain trying to catch that evening train
and kill the old familiar pain weaving thru my tangled brain
when I tipped my bottle back and smacked into a cop I didn't see
that police man said «Mister Cool : if you ain't drunk then you're a fool»
I said «if that's against the law then tell me why I never saw
a man locked in that jail of yours who wasn't neither black or poor as me?»
well that was when someone turned out the lights
and I wound up in jail to spend the night
and dream of all the wine and lonely girls
in this best of all possible worlds
well I woke up next morning feeling like my head was gone
and like my thick old tongue was licking something sick and wrong
and I told that man I'd sell my soul for something wet and cold as that old cell
that kindly jailer grinned at me all eaten up with sympathy
then poured himself another beer and came and whispered in my ear
«if booze was just a dime a bottle boy you couldn't even buy the smell»
I said «I knew there was something I liked about this town
but it takes more than that to bring me down down down
'cause there's still a lot of wine and lonely girls
in this best of all possible worlds»
well they finally came and told me they was a gonna set me free
and I'd be leaving town if I knew what was good for me
I said «it's nice to learn that everybody's so concerned about my health»
I said «I won't be leaving no more quicker than I can
cause I've enjoyed about as much of this as I can stand
and I don't need this town of yours more than I never needed nothing else
'cause there's still alot of drinks that I ain't drunk
and lots of pretty thoughts that I ain't thunk
and Lord there's still so many lonely girls
in this best of all possible worlds»
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
/G../F#.. E E7 I was running thru the summer rain trying to catch that evening train A A7 and kill the old familiar pain weaving thru my tangled brain D D7 G /G../F# when I tipped my bottle back and smacked into a cop I didn't see E E7 that police man said "Mister Cool if you ain't drunk then you're a fool" A A7 I said "if that's against the law then tell me why I never saw D D7 G a man locked in that jail of yours who wasn't neither black or poor as me?" G G7 C A7 well that was when someone turned out the lights D D7 G and I wound up in jail to spend the night G G7 C A7 and dream of all the wine and lonely girls D D7 G in this best of all possible worlds
