Originally Posted by: faith83

I have a special place in my heart for To Beat the Devil (esp right now) - a brilliant piece of songwriting that shows mastery of the form in the breaking of its rules, and also Junkie the Juiceman and Me.

I love his voice and generally speaking prefer his versions of his songs to anyone else's (except Janis' Me and Bobby McGee). He doesn't have a perfect voice, but as Emmylou pointed out, your limitations define your style, and there is a special power in hearing the writer of a song sing it the way they hear it in their heads. Help Me Make It Through the Night and Sunday Morning Coming Down.. no one IMO communicated the pain better than Kris did (though Johnny Cash got pretty close on SMCD).

I already commented too much on specific lyrics, but yeah, I'm with you on To Beat the Devil. I just checked out The Junkie & the Juicehead - somehow I don't think I've ever heard that one. Semi-autobiographical, eh?

I really like his own versions of his songs best, too. It's been a little painful seeing him perform for the last few years with his health issues, brought on by Lyme disease and misdiagnosed as Alzheimers.