You certainly know your music. I was wondering why you added the Me and Bobby McGee on a happy birthday thread for Kris Kristofferson, so I had to go read.
Turns out he wrote/co-wrote the original song, which is a big surprise to me. Is the Bobby McGee in the song a male, which I always thought based on Janis Joplin's version, or is Bobby McGee really a female named Bobbie McKee????
Interesting
Anyway, happy birthday to Kris!
I had to do some more reading. The story goes like this: The co-writer of the song had a crush on Bobbie McKee and gave the idea of Me and Bobbie McKee to Kris. Kris misunderstood the McKee part and wrote Me and Bobby McGee. I saw a video of the co-writer and Bobbie (really Barbara) McKee. I would say it's true.
You're right, Jim, about it being gender neutral. Gordon Lightfoot sings it as B. McGee being a female. I know Janis Joplin sang it as B. McGee being male. I was surprised to see how many other artists have also recorded it.