[HN Gopher] Kris Kristofferson has died
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       Kris Kristofferson has died
        
       Author : coloneltcb
       Score  : 217 points
       Date   : 2024-09-29 22:49 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.rollingstone.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.rollingstone.com)
        
       | toomuchtodo wrote:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson
        
       | 082349872349872 wrote:
       | > _Quack, quack! ... You ever see a duck couldn 't swim?_ --MP
        
       | dang wrote:
       | His pedigree as a Rhodes scholar always fascinated me. Not many
       | land a helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn.
        
         | jhbadger wrote:
         | He did a sketch on SNL back in the day making fun of his
         | scholarly background, suggesting that he originally was going
         | to title his famous song "Bobby McGee and I" before taking a
         | course in "how to speak country".
        
         | wheels wrote:
         | It's true, but there are more well educated alternative country
         | musicians than one might guess.
         | 
         | Willie Nelson went to Baylor (but didn't finish) and Lyle
         | Lovett has a degree in German literature from Texas A&M. Robert
         | Earl Keen also graduated from A&M. Lucinda Williams's dad is a
         | poet and literature professor. Emmylou Harris went to UNC and
         | Boston University. Hell, even George Straight and Garth Brooks
         | have degrees. That's not quite Rhodes Scholar, but perhaps not
         | entirely expected?
        
         | thorin wrote:
         | Leonard Cohen was of course a highly educated writer and poet.
         | Brian May is famously a doctor of astrophysics and still has an
         | interest in research. I guess most musicians get laser focussed
         | on it at a young age and don't have the need to study anything
         | else.
        
         | LargeWu wrote:
         | There was a lot of cross pollination between artists and
         | academics in that 60's counterculture crowd. Ken Kesey was a
         | brilliant author who was also on the forefront of
         | experimentation with LSD. John Perry Barlow was a lyricist for
         | the Grateful Dead, and also founded the EFF.
        
         | flobosg wrote:
         | For reference: List of artists and entertainers with advanced
         | degrees -
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artists_and_entertaine...
        
       | KingOfCoders wrote:
       | Convoy was the first film I've watched on VHS, which was magic,
       | around ~1984.
        
         | RyJones wrote:
         | What a wonderfully insane movie.
        
         | VTimofeenko wrote:
         | "I am the law" quote is burnt into my brain thanks in part to
         | the fanmade music video for Orange Goblin - Rage of Angels:
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrizqjkSADM
        
           | Lio wrote:
           | That's a great link, thanks.
           | 
           | Have to admit I'd not heard of Orange Goblin before but I'm
           | headed for a journey threw their back catalogue now starting
           | with The Wolf Bites Back.
        
       | aanet wrote:
       | Kris Kristofferson was one of my fav song-writers. For the
       | longest time, I thought _Me and Bobby McGee_ was Janis Joplin's
       | original song, until I learnt it was Kris' writing. He actually
       | wrote it for a woman named Bobby... the rest is history. [1]
       | 
       | A Golden Globe-winning actor, Golden Gloves boxer, Rhodes
       | scholar, author, U.S. Army veteran, pilot, and onetime record-
       | label janitor. A full fledged Renaissance man. They sure don't
       | make 'em like that anymore.
       | 
       | Whattay guy! RIP Kris. Thanks for all the enduring songs!!
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNblxfWTWU4
        
         | rob74 wrote:
         | > _He actually wrote it for a woman named Bobby..._
         | 
         | Bobby being short for... Roberta? But then again, after I
         | recently saw female pop singer Taylor Swift watching male
         | tennis player Taylor Fritz at the US Open, I realized that some
         | American first names are just... flexible.
        
           | bdndndndbve wrote:
           | There's many English names that aren't gendered ex. Morgan,
           | Casey, Charlie, Jayme (plus Taylor and Bobby as mentioned
           | previously)
        
             | WalterBright wrote:
             | Charlie is a nickname for Charles and Charlene.
        
               | zeroonetwothree wrote:
               | I would think Charlotte more than Charlene
        
           | jetrink wrote:
           | It's pretty common in the US for a name that is traditionally
           | associated with boys become unisex (Taylor) or even
           | prominently female (Lauren). Typically it is an uncommon male
           | name (so not, e.g. John or Brian) that sees a sudden increase
           | in popularity and becomes unisex. Some other examples include
           | Leslie, Casey, Jordan, Morgan, Addison, and Riley. I can't
           | think of any examples of the reverse off the top of my head.
           | 
           | A chart of this phenomenon for Taylor:
           | 
           | https://engaging-data.com/baby-name-
           | visualizer/?n=taylor&sex...
        
             | cafard wrote:
             | "Jordan" goes some ways back--there is a woman named Jordan
             | in _The Great Gatsby_.
             | 
             | And it isn't entirely an American phenomenon: the critic
             | Clive James was named Vivian James at birth, but the
             | actress Vivian Leigh more or less claimed the name for the
             | female sex when Gone With the Wind came out. James or his
             | family fell back on his middle name to spare him teasing.
        
               | mindcrime wrote:
               | _more or less claimed the name for the female sex when_
               | 
               | Not entirely so however. Vivian Campbell[1] is still
               | rocking the "Vivian" name for the male sex[2]!
               | 
               | [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Campbell
               | 
               | [2]: Not that any of this really matters of course.
               | Vivian's name just popped to mind for me as I'm a huge
               | fan of his work with Whitesnake and Def Leppard.
        
               | toyg wrote:
               | _> "Jordan" goes some ways back_ [...] _The Great Gatsby_
               | 
               | Jordan is a river in the Middle East (also in the Bible)
               | and more recently a country near such river. Like
               | Brooklyn or Paris, it is a topological name that was co-
               | opted into a first name. As such, it could always be used
               | for either sex.
               | 
               | (Yes, Paris is also a male name found in the Iliad, but
               | that doesn't share the etymology with the city of Paris,
               | which is what most people refer to nowadays.)
        
             | dctoedt wrote:
             | And Evelyn (as in, e.g., Waugh, who pronounced it EEV-lin).
        
           | maxerickson wrote:
           | Even the ones that aren't are flexible.
        
           | wholinator2 wrote:
           | Bobby short for Barbara, a secretary who worked at his
           | managers office. He also didn't write it exactly _for_ her,
           | his manager guy had the idea for the name and theme during a
           | conversation with the guy who's secretary was bobby mckee.
           | 
           | All this can be seen at the link in gp comment
        
         | cafard wrote:
         | I once heard or read an interview with him on NPR, saying that
         | he wrote the song at a time when he was working flying
         | helicopters to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. This had the odd
         | effect of reminding me of the distance between Baton Rouge and
         | New Orleans, and calling into question size of the truck
         | driver's repertory of songs.
        
         | buscar wrote:
         | One of my all time favorites - Jody and the kid! Such a joy
         | whenever I listen to it.
        
       | acjohnson55 wrote:
       | That dude didn't leave much on the table, in terms of life
       | experiences. RIP.
        
       | js2 wrote:
       | Kristofferson standing up for Sinead O'Connor shortly after her
       | SNL appearance:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKeJifOXAnA
       | 
       | He later wrote a song for/about her:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HwWDOQoCBM
       | 
       | The guy was a mensch.
        
         | Modified3019 wrote:
         | For those like me that didn't know:
         | 
         | >Mensch: Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor.
        
           | Dilettante_ wrote:
           | Literally a real human bean
        
           | croes wrote:
           | Or just the German word for human being
        
             | rob74 wrote:
             | See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q08mOo6NFok
        
           | eddieroger wrote:
           | A helpful reminder to be a mensch complements of The Critic.
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXUavHiLwE
        
         | optimalsolver wrote:
         | Of the uber variety.
        
       | zombiwoof wrote:
       | Convoy changed my life
        
       | cwmoore wrote:
       | RIP Kris Kristofferson, thanks for another song
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/vHReBUA8cH4
        
       | MarcScott wrote:
       | Don't care that it was a bomb at the box office, I really enjoyed
       | Heaven's Gate.
       | 
       | I also loved Convoy. My kids and I still troll my wife by
       | including the theme song on almost every playlist we create.
        
         | Zobat wrote:
         | - Don't care that it was a bomb at the box office, I really
         | enjoyed Heaven's Gate.
         | 
         | Ok, with English as a second language and not familiar with
         | Kris body of works I read this as a quote from a song. Took me
         | way too long to realize the intended meaning. As a line of song
         | lyrics it rocks hard but doesn't really roll off the tongue.
         | 
         | edit: of > off
        
         | mkovach wrote:
         | "You ever seen a duck that couldn't swim? Quack, quack!"
         | 
         | It's still one of my favorite "I can't sleep" movies.
        
       | mentalgear wrote:
       | Kristofferson said that he would like the first three lines of
       | Leonard Cohen's "Bird on the Wire" on his tombstone:
       | Like a bird on the wire         Like a drunk in a midnight choir
       | I have tried in my way to be free
       | 
       | source: Kristofferson wikipedia page
        
       | telesilla wrote:
       | His version of A Star is Born, with Strisand, is a masterpiece
       | that will be sadly overshadowed by the inferior Gaga/Cooper
       | attempt, the 1976 version reaches perfect notes in the height of
       | rock hedonism and it's comedown. Kristifferson nailed it.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/FbVXxuykP_M?si=7bQbtVgcU3IrGJev
        
       | vouaobrasil wrote:
       | Liked him in Blade!
        
       | Triphibian wrote:
       | I recently saw him in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Great
       | movie, strong early performance from Kristofferson.
        
         | js2 wrote:
         | I mean this sincerely: it's my favorite Scorsese film. I don't
         | think many people would say that.
        
       | brodouevencode wrote:
       | No mention of Payback yet - great movie.
        
       | karaterobot wrote:
       | I think the interesting difference he brought to the country
       | music scene is typified by _Sunday Morning Coming Down_ , which
       | may have been his first successful hit (for Johnny Cash). Not
       | going to look that up, let's say it's true. It's a depressing
       | song about standing outside of society and community, walking
       | around the edges of it and looking at it, but not wanting to get
       | back in. That song would have broken another way if it were
       | written by someone else.
        
       | sys32768 wrote:
       | His cover of Brandi Carlile's Turpentine is fantastic:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDruf7aDk4E
        
       | megous wrote:
       | He also stood up for Palestinian children and was noticeably
       | blacklisted by some in the showbiz industry for it. Shows you the
       | ideological vengefulness of some in this industry.
       | 
       | Kristofferson's political stand helped ensure that his name
       | received a black mark within the show-business stablishment, as
       | he said, "Particularly in LA, I found a considerable lack of work
       | after doing concerts for the Palestinian children and for a
       | couple of gigs with Vanessa Redgrave and if that's the way it has
       | to be, that's the way it has to be. If you support human rights,
       | you gotta support them everywhere."
       | 
       | (Kristofferson: The Wild American)
        
       | syngrog66 wrote:
       | should not be on "Hacker News"
        
       | ngcazz wrote:
       | Two days younger than my grandmother... time to call her.
        
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