About the Song
Kris Kristofferson – The Story Behind “Why Me”: A Moment of Surrender and Redemption
Kris Kristofferson was already a legend by the early 1970s — a Rhodes Scholar turned Army captain turned outlaw songwriter whose lyrics gave voice to a restless, searching generation. He had written classics like “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” But behind the fame, Kris was quietly crumbling — worn out by the whirlwind of success, personal turmoil, and a growing sense of emptiness.
That’s when “Why Me” was born — not out of ambition, but out of brokenness.
The story goes back to a Sunday morning in 1972, when Kris, at the invitation of his then-girlfriend Rita Coolidge, attended a church service led by Reverend Jimmie Snow at a small Nashville chapel. Kristofferson, not known for being religious, sat in the pew quietly. But something in the message — about grace, forgiveness, and surrender — struck him to the core.
During the altar call, he felt something move in him. As he later recalled:
“It was just the idea of forgiveness, that was the thing that got me. That Christ would forgive somebody like me — that was the thing I couldn’t get over.”
He walked to the front of the church, tears streaming down his face. And soon after, he sat at a piano and wrote one of the most emotionally raw gospel songs ever penned by a mainstream artist:
“Why me, Lord? What have I ever done to deserve even one of the pleasures I’ve known?”
It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t poetic in the traditional Kristofferson way. But it was honest. Pure. A prayer in the form of a song.
Released in 1973 on his album “Jesus Was a Capricorn,” “Why Me” became the biggest hit of his career — reaching No. 1 on the country charts. But more importantly, it became a song that countless others would claim as their own confession — a quiet anthem for the brokenhearted and the grateful.
To this day, when Kristofferson performed “Why Me,” he did so with humility and reverence, often with his eyes closed — as if still standing at that altar, still in awe of grace.
For all the songs he wrote, this may be the one that carried the most truth — not just about him, but about the power of a single moment of surrender.