The country singer and songwriter, who died on Saturday at 88, tucked enduring aphorisms into tales about facing up to loss.

“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” Joplin sang in her signature blues-rock yowl — perhaps the best-known piece of wisdom in Kristofferson’s very wise catalog. “Me and Bobby McGee” topped the Hot 100 in March 1971, less than six months after Joplin’s death at age 27.

Imagine writing a song as good as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” It must have felt like building the Brooklyn Bridge with your bare hands. “There’s something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone,” the ballad’s demolished narrator sings through his hangover as he embarks on a weekend stroll in the direction of the void.

Kristofferson died Saturday at his home in Maui, Hawaii, a representative for Kristofferson confirmed to USA TODAY. A cause of death was not given. "It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather,

Kris Kristofferson, who became one of the most influential American singer-songwriters of his time with works such as "Me and Bobby McGee," as well as a successful actor, died Saturday at the age of 88,

Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died.

A look back at some of the biggest and best songs by Kris Kristofferson, who has died aged 88.