‘Pilgrim, poet, maestro’— A tribute to Kris Kristofferson

THE first time I heard Kris Kristofferson was in August 1971, at Tai Chey Record Shop on India Street in Kuching, and the song was ‘The Silver Tongued Devil and I’ from his second album of the same name.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that 18 years later, I was to meet him in person in March 1989 at the (then-known) Holiday Inn Damai Beach Hotel near Kuching.

He was in Sarawak to shoot some scenes for a Vietnam-themed movie called ‘Welcome Home’, which was director’s Franklin J. Schaffner’s last movie.

Kristofferson passed away last Saturday, Sept 28, at age 88, in his home in Maui, Hawaii.

His body of work, in his recordings and his film career, has influenced me ever since I had first heard him sing 53 years ago.

He had touched me with his melodies and lyrics and along with Elvis Presley and Leonard Cohen, he was there always in the background as the soundtrack played through the momentous events and phases of my life.

His songs had uplifted and encouraged me, as well as enriched and enhanced my life and time – in my solitude, with others around, or just ‘wearing yesterday’s misfortunes like a smile’.

I felt in tune with him when he wrote in one of his most memorable songs, ‘The Pilgrim Chapter 33’:

“He’s a poet he’s a picker he’s a prophet he’s a pusher,
“He’s a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he’s stoned,
“He’s a walking contradiction partly truth and partly fiction,
“Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.”

However, my favourite song has to be the ultimate ‘hangover anthem’ – ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’, which was released in 1970, the year when I had my first alcoholic beverage; and would be on repeat mode over my record player during many of my ‘wasted’ Sunday mornings over the years!

Expressing more than just the malaise of someone suffering from a hangover, the classic gave voice to feelings of spiritual abandonment bordering on the absolute.

“Nothing short of dying” is the way the chorus describes the desolation that the song’s protagonist is experiencing.

Steeped in a neo-Romantic sensibility that owed as much to John Keats as to the Beat Generation and Bob Dylan, Kristofferson’s work explored themes of freedom and commitment, alienation and desire, darkness and light.

His melodies were lilting, tuneful, melodic and memorable. They were also reflective of unfulfilled desire and remembered sadness. His lyrics and his phrasing of words would remain with you long after the song has ended.

Kristofferson was nominated for the Emmy Awards 13 times, and had won three. His studio album recordings numbered 21, but anthologies and compilations together with other works with ‘The Highwaymen’ meant a higher count.

In over four decades, he had starred in over 50 films, of which the most famous was ‘A Star Is Born’ with Barbra Streisand for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

He would also be remembered for 1981’s ‘Heaven’s Gate’, which was director Michael Cimino’s ‘bomb’ at the box-office, costing US$44 million then and grossing only US$3.4 million.

Kristofferson had landed in Kuching in March 1989 to shoot some scenes for the Vietnam war-themed drama ‘Welcome Home’.

The areas of Padawan, Bau, Jambusan, Mambong, the Army Camp at Mile 6, and the villages had stood in for various ‘Vietnamese locations’ in the script. Many extras and some locals were also involved with the short four-week shoot.

Two locals recalled with fondness their time spent with him during the ‘Welcome Home’ shoot in Kuching. One was Jay Blakeney, a retired forester from Canada who is now resident in Sarawak.

The other was Rena Goep, who was a sub-editor at The Borneo Post at the time.

Kristofferson was 53 when he starred in the Columbia Pictures’ ‘Welcome Home’.

Blakeney described the American as a very nice guy who was friendly to everyone on the crew.

He recalled having stood in as Kristofferson’s stunt double, doing the more rugged scenes like being dragged up a limestone quarry in Jambusan.

Again he did another scene as the actor’s double ‘near Mambong where I was bundled wounded out of the jungle in a stretcher, which was pulled by a flatulent water buffalo’.

During breaks, Blakeney got to know Kristofferson rather well, and they exchanged stories of their lives.

“My fondest memory was hearing him talk about his eight children.

“At one stage, his household helper, a Latina from Central America, was killed by her abusive husband. Kris took on the responsibility of looking after her five children until they found other family members to take them.

“Another time on the film set upcountry, an old Landcruiser was parked with its engine on to enable the running of the air-conditioner unit; Kris noticed a village pet monkey tied up near its exhaust.

“He swiftly told the driver to switch the engine off; the monkey’s comfort took priority over his own,” said Blakeney.

Rena, together with Paul Si, were covering a public-relation (PR) affair involving Kristofferson at the Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort during a day off from shooting.

Peter Mueller, the renowned hotelier and pioneering general manager of the Holiday Inn hotels in Kuching, was also there; together with a Belgian Air agent who was promoting the brand.

I was there together with Denis Hon, then-permanent secretary of the Ministry of Tourism.

Rena took a photo op with Kristofferson after he had taken a short flight in an air balloon over the resort hotel.

A minor incident occurred when a sudden gust of wind had blown the balloon against a rooftop, and Kristofferson had bruised his right hand somewhat from trying to steer the balloon away.

In the photo attached here, you can see the actor’s bandaged right hand.

Kristofferson had teased Rena about the incident: “I was waving at you, but you didn’t wave back!”

Kristofferson, the singer-songwriter, had started his music career in Nashville singing country songs. He had successfully crossed over to pop, rock and like Elvis and Bob Dylan before him, became a legend when one single name was sufficient for universal recognition.

Today, Kristofferson’s hundreds of compositions have been recorded by more than 450 singers into dozens of languages. However, he is still best known for some of his major hits like ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, Help Me Make It Through the Night’, ‘For the Good Times’, ‘Why Me Lord’, ‘One Day at a Time’, ‘Loving Her Was Easier’, ‘To Beat the Devil’, ‘Jody and the Kid’ and ‘Who’s to Bless and Who’s to Blame’.

Kristofferson’s songs were playing most of the time during my formative years as my working life began in 1970, and they had followed me throughout my career spent at the many towns and villages across Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei.

His lyrics and music had inspired and raised me up from my young adulthood to parenthood, and now to being a grandparent.

My children all know his tunes and love his music, and I will cultivate my grandsons’ interest as soon as they take an interest.

Kristofferson’s best work showed life in the raw, the lows and the highs, the ugliness and the beauty, but in everything he saw perpetual hope and love in a religious vein, as a respect for an Almighty God.

His testimony as to how he had found Jesus Christ and the experience, had inspired him to write one of his greatest songs, ‘Why Me Lord’. You can check it out here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Lc9Hg-D-6us?si=ypqbd4ebAIrg-ZoR.

I will conclude with an excerpt from another of his enduring songs, ‘To Beat The Devil’, written at a very low point in his life. It was inspired by his lifelong friendship with Johnny Cash and was written about him.

“If you waste your time a-talkin’,
“To the people who don’t listen,
“To the things that you are sayin’,
“Who do you think’s gonna hear?
“And if you should die explainin’ how,
“The things that they complain about,
“Are things they could be changin’,
“Who do you think’s gonna care?
“There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind,
“Who were crucified for what they tried to show,
“And their voices have been scattered by the swirlin’ winds of time,
“Cause the truth remains that no one wants to know.”

Kris Kristofferson – thank you for all the good times and treasured moments, and most of all, for bringing joy, love, hope and happiness to ‘this one walking contradiction partly truth and partly fiction’ fanboy here.

God Rest Ye. Amen.

* The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist’s own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper.