10 Songs You Didn't Know Were Written By Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson was one of those artists who refused to be put in a box. Literature was his first great love, and he planned from a young age to be a storyteller. He wrote hundreds of songs, released 18 studio albums, and starred in several movies. But his songwriting was always one of the most important parts of his career.

His songs left a huge mark on the country music landscape, evident in the awards he won. Alongside individual wins for his songs and performances, Kristofferson was personally inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2014.

While he was well-known in the industry, many of his best songs got popular under other artists. And that was the way he wanted it. Kristofferson told NPR, “Every performer that's performed my songs has done them better than I did.” While his fans would disagree, that perspective caused many of his songs to be covered by music legends whose versions overshadowed his own.

Here are ten songs written by Kris Kristofferson that you probably didn’t know were his.

"Me and Bobby McGee"
"Nobody Wins"
"Here Comes That Rainbow Again"
"For the Good Times"
"I’ve Got To Have You"
"Why Me (Lord)?"
"Once More With Feeling"
"Help Me Make It Through the Night"
"How Do You Feel About Foolin’ Around"
"Sunday Morning Coming Down"

"Me and Bobby McGee"

The song “Me and Bobby McGee” is likely one of Kristofferson’s biggest hits as a songwriter, so it’s also likely the one most fans already know about. Monument Records founder Fred Foster gave Kristofferson the idea, which he wrote in the late 1960s. It was first recorded by Roger Miller in 1969 before gaining popularity with covers by singers like Janis Joplin and Jerry Lee Lewis, both of whom earned the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Country charts, respectively. Though Kristofferson released his own version, the song was always more successful in other hands.

"Nobody Wins"

The song “Nobody Wins” was a heartbreaking ballad about the end of a relationship, when fighting for the relationship just seems to end with everybody hurt. This is one where Kristofferson actually released it himself first, on his 1972 album Jesus Was a Capricorn. Brenda Lee covered it the following year, and its popularity took off, earning the top spot on Canada’s Country Tracks and the number 5 spot on the US Hot Country Songs. It was then covered another 24 times, including by Frank Sinatra.

"Here Comes That Rainbow Again"

While most people know Kris Kristofferson for his music or his film roles, his first love was literature, which he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in, with the hope of eventually writing his own novels. That background is critical to “Here Comes That Rainbow Again,” a song about which Kristofferson joked, “I kind of wrote it with John Steinbeck…only he was dead at the time.” The song was based on a scene from The Grapes of Wrath, which highlights the innate good in people, even during hard times. Johnny Cash famously covered the song in 1985, noting in his autobiography that it was one of his favorite songs.

"For the Good Times"

Kris Kristofferson shared that “For the Good Times” was written about the end of a real relationship he was trying to cope with in 1968—likely the end of his first marriage with Frances Mavia Beer. It ended up resonating with people, which made it one of Kristofferson's most-covered songs. The song was first released by Bill Nash in 1968, but its popularity took off when it was recorded by Ray Price in 1970. “For the Good Times” won the Academy of Country Music “Song of the Year” award in 1971, before crossing genre lines when it was covered by artists like Elvis Presley, Al Green, Perry Como, and Frank Sinatra.

"I’ve Got To Have You"

Kris Kristofferson had a habit of writing songs for and about the women he was seeing, and Carly Simon was no exception. He wrote “I’ve Got to Have You” for her, which Simon felt perfectly captured his intensity. According to her, “He had the look of a man who had just undressed you, and there would be no more clothes needed for a while. Every signal Kris conveyed said, ‘I’ve got to have you,’ and I felt prematurely possessed.” Though their romance was short-lived, the song was a strong entry on Simon's Anticipation album.

"Why Me (Lord)?"

Kristofferson was inspired by Larry Gatlin’s song “Help Me” to write one of his most emotional songs: “Why Me?” While most of the songs on this list were either intentionally written for others or became more popular when others sang them, “Why Me” was Kristofferson’s biggest hit in his own singing career, reaching the top spot on Billboard’s weekly Hot Country Singles listing and earning the sixth spot on the year-end Hot 100. While many people know Kristofferson’s version from the 1970s, it remains popular as a Christian song, with over 100 different covers and many more people performing it privately in churches. Part of this popularity came from Elvis, who called it one of his favorite songs and performed it regularly.

"Once More With Feeling"

“Once More With Feeling” is one of the few songs on this list that Kris Kristofferson co-wrote, working alongside his frequent collaborator (and famous children's book author) Shel Silverstein. The song was originally released by Jerry Lee Lewis, and his version peaked at the second spot on Billboard’s US Hot Country Songs in 1970. Although Kristofferson released the song on his 1979 album Shake Hands with the Devil, Jerry Lee Lewis’s version remained the most popular.

"Help Me Make It Through the Night"

“Help Me Make It Through The Night” is probably the hardest song on this list to pin down. The song was written by Kris Kristofferson, but he was inspired by a quote from Frank Sinatra, who told Esquire that he believed in “Booze, broads, or a bible…whatever helps me make it through the night.” Kristofferson, struggling to make it in the music industry and working odd jobs to get by, wrote the song to explain his need for someone to get him through another day. While the lyrics were considered scandalous at the time, it has racked up over 500 cover versions, with major versions from Sammi Smith (1970) and Willie Nelson (1980) taking over the charts.

"How Do You Feel About Foolin’ Around"

While Kris Kristofferson was not responsible for any of the music in one of his biggest movie roles, A Star is Born (1976), he did have the opportunity to combine his writing, singing, and acting talents for the 1984 film Songwriter. Kristofferson wrote (or co-wrote) six of the album’s eleven songs, including “How Do You Feel About Foolin’ Around” and “Eye of the Storm.” Though the film’s music was more frequently associated with Kristofferson’s co-star and friend Willie Nelson, Kristofferson did earn an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Score, though he lost to Prince’s Purple Rain film.

"Sunday Morning Coming Down"

Like “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down” was a hit that changed Kristofferson’s life without being sung in his voice. He told NPR that the song’s success “allowed me to quit working for a living,” which drastically changed the course of his life, allowing him to focus on his art. The song was first recorded by Ray Stevens in 1969, but it took off when Johnny Cash recorded it for his show. Cash’s version then hit the top spot on Billboard’s US Hot Country Songs chart and won the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year Award (1970). It has been covered over 200 times, and though Johnny Cash’s version was the most successful, Kris Kristofferson’s version has come back into popularity after being featured in Project Hail Mary.