Today’s classic song of the day with the name of the day in the title is “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” The song was written by Kris Kirstofferson and became a #1 country hit for his pal Johnny Cash in 1970. (Ray Stevens actually recorded it first, although his version only hit #55 on the Country charts.)
Johnny Cash’s version was recorded during a taping at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for an episode of The Johnny Cash Show. Mr. Cash introduced the song with the following monologue:
“You know, not everyone who has been on ‘the bum’ wanted it that way. The Great Depression of the 30s set the feet of thousands of people—farmers, city workers—it set ’em to ridin’ the rails. My Daddy was one of those who hopped a freight train a couple of times to go and look for work. He wasn’t a bum. He was a hobo but he wasn’t a bum. I suppose we’ve all….all of us ‘been at one time or another ‘drifter at heart’, and today like yesterday there’s many that are on that road headin’ out. Not searchin’ maybe for work, as much as for self-fulfillment, or understanding of their life…trying to find a meaning for their life. And they’re not hoppin’ freights much anymore. Instead they’re thumbin’ cars and diesel trucks along the highways from Maine to Mexico. And many who have drifted…including myself…have found themselves no closer to peace of mind than a dingy backroom, on some lonely Sunday morning, with it comin’ down all around you.”
“Sunday Morning Coming Down” was the first big tune that Kris Kristofferson wrote. On the surface, it’s about a drunkard coming down on Sunday morning from a Saturday night spent drinking. Scratch the surface, however, and you see the song is about being alone and lonely, observing the Sunday morning world around him that he isn’t and can’t be a part of. Dig these lyrics:
In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughin’ little girl who he was swingin’
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
Listened to the song they were singin’Then I headed back for home
And somewhere far away a lonesome bell was ringin’
And it echoed through the canyons
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterdayOn the Sunday morning sidewalk
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
Makes a body feel aloneThere ain’t nothin’ short of dyin’
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleepin’ city sidewalks
Sunday mornin’ comin’ down
The lyrics just kill me. This song is truth as only Mr. Kristofferson can convey.
As noted, this was Mr. Kristofferson’s first big hit as a songwriter. He’d go on to write songs like “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” and “For the Good Times.” In addition to a successful career as a solo performer, He went on to sing with the superstar group called the Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. Oh, and he had a bit of a side career as an actor, in films like Pat Garrett and Billy the KId, A Star is Born, Semi-Tough, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. He’s still kicking around today, aged 87.
