By 1973, Kris Kristofferson was already making a name for himself as a songwriter, with hits like “Me And Bobby McGee”, “Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down”, and others. But a hit single of his own had largely escaped him, until “Why Me”. On his fourth studio album, Jesus Was A Capricorn, “Why Me” became Kristofferson’s first and only No. 1 single as an artist.
Kristofferson is the sole writer of “Why Me”. Also known as “Why Me, Lord”, Kristofferson wrote the song after an experience he had in church. Kristofferson attended a church service with Connie Smith, when the pastor, Jimmie Snow, asked anyone who was feeling lost to raise their hand.
“I had a profound religious experience during the session, something that never had happened to me before,” he recalls. “And ‘Why Me’ came out of it.”
Kristofferson vividly recalled the moment that led him to write “Why Me”.
“I don’t go to church a lot,” Kristofferson says. “And the notion of raising my hand was out of the question. I thought, ‘I can’t imagine who’s doing this.’ And all of a sudden, I felt my hand going up. And I was hoping nobody else was looking because everybody had their head bent over praying. … 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, and I felt this forgiveness that I didn’t know I even needed.”
What Larry Gatlin Had To Do With Krist Kristofferson Writing “Why Me”
Larry Gatlin also plays a part in the success of “Why Me”. At the church service, Gatlin’s “Help Me” was reportedly sung, which played a part in Kris Kristofferson’s emotional moment in church.
“Kris heard [me sing my song ‘Help Me’] one morning at church, and kind of had a spiritual epiphany,” Gatlin later recalls. “[Connie Smith] took him to church that morning, and he was not in good shape.”
According to Gatlin, Kristofferson wrote “Why Me” in the car on the way home from the church service.
“He and Connie came over to my house later that night…and we sang it on the Grand Ole Opry that Friday night,” Gatlin says.
“If my song never did anything else but play a very small part, thank you God, in inspiring Kris in his spiritual journey,” he adds. “And the fact that he wrote one of the greatest gospel…songs in the history of the world, ‘Why Me Lord?’ I can die a happy man.”
Gatlin and Rita Coolidge both sing on “Why Me”. Kristofferson and Coolidge wed in 1973, and divorced in 1980.
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