Is Kris Kristofferson’s Greatest Song “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”?

Kris Kristofferson got his big break with “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” which may be the greatest song ever written about loneliness.

Kris Kristofferson passed away on Saturday, September 28, 2024. As many of the obituaries point out, he had an amazing career, songwriter, actor, singer, Rhodes scholar, army helicopter pilot, and so much more. I was lucky while visiting a childhood friend to see Kristofferson in Houston back in March 1990 as he started the first Highwaymen tour with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. But if you ask me the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Kristofferson, it is the song “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down.”

Kristofferson may have had greater songs, and you can easily make the case for “Me and Bobby McGee” or “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” among others. But “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” may be the greatest song ever written about loneliness.

On the Sunday morning sidewalks,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned;
Cause there’s something in a Sunday,
That makes a body feel alone;
And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’,
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sleepin’ city sidewalks,
Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.

Johnny Cash first recorded the song. In 1969, Kristofferson was working sweeping floors at Columbia studios and hoping to be a songwriter. You can hear this part of Kristofferson’s life in “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” where he had moved to Nashville, alone, alienated from his family, and struggling to get by.

Kristofferson famously flew a helicopter to Johnny Cash’s house to get Cash’s attention and give the singer a tape of his songs that included “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” Cash subsequently played the song on his weekly television show, telling the audience about the up-and-coming songwriter. Cash released the song on record, and his version became the one that most people remember hearing first.

Lyrics and Johnny Cash’s Changes

Johnny Cash did tweak a few of the words in “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” In his version, he refers to “Then I washed my face and combed my hair / And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.” But in Kristofferson’s original version, he sings about shaving instead of washing, “And I shaved my face and combed my hair / And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.”

Also, Kristofferson’s original describes the kid differently than Cash: “But I lit my first and watched a small kid / Cussin’ at a can that he was kickin’.” Cash took out the referencing to cussing: “But I lit my first and watched a small kid /
Playin’ with a can that he was kickin’.”

Why did Cash change a few words? Some have speculated Cash’s version is a little more optimistic, with the singer washing off his sins and seeing kids playing instead of cussing. I have not seen Cash or Kristofferson explain the small changes, but my theory is a little different.

Recall that when Cash first recorded the song, Kristofferson was not the established songwriter we know. He was new to the business and was the annoying guy trying to get his songs heard. So, Cash, even while recognizing a great song, did not approach it with reverence. So, he might have just thought the word changes sounded better. Regarding the kid kicking the can, Cash’s change got rid of the more blatant alliteration “cussin’ at a can” and stretched it out more, tying together the “w” in the first phrase (“watched”) to two more “w” words in the next phrase (“with”/”was”). Regarding the other change, he may have just liked the elongated sound of “washed” over “shaved.”

Cash’s tweaks were small, and he left most of the song alone, including what I consider the most heartbreaking line in the song, about smelling frying chicken. Most folks who have moved away from home can relate to recalling family dinners on Sundays and what it means to now be on your own.

Then I crossed the empty street,
And caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin’ chicken;
And it took me back to somethin’,
That I’d lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

We lost something else when we lost Kris Kristofferson, but we still have his music to lift us up and to comfort us when we are down and alone.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    When is Mickey Newbury’s “33rd of August”?

    Mickey Newbury’s song “33rd of August” had a special connection for singers like David Allan Coe. But what is the song really about?

    Mickey Newbury’s 1969 album Looks Like Rain is one of the rare albums where every song is great. Newbury, who John Prine called “probably the best songwriter ever,” hits you in the guts with every song. Upon repeated listens, each song on Looks Like Rain grows deeper. And one song in particular that stands out is “33rd of August” (paired on the track with “When the Baby in My Lady Gets the Blues”).

    Mickey Newbury was born in Houston on May 19, 1940 and died in Oregon on September 29, 2002. During his lifetime, he became well-respected by his songwriting peers, even if huge commercial success eluded him.

    Newbury’s song “33rd of August” has been covered by artists such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Joan Baez. One of the more famous versions is by David Allan Coe. Coe released the song on his third album The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy (1974), which was also his first album devoted entirely to country music. Coe, an outstanding songwriter himself, recognized songwriting talent, also including a song by Guy Clark on the album.

    David Allan Coe Sings “33rd of August” from a Cell

    But Newbury and his song “33rd of August,” obviously touched a special chord with Coe. Coe dedicated his album The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy to Newbury. On the album, he even included a letter he had written Newbury, including the line: “Freedom is knowing how to remember the weight of your chains once they’ve been removed, for each man feels his own pain in prison and each man must pull his own time.”

    Coe’s references to “freedom” and “prison” were hard won. Coe was sent to reform school at age nine, and subsequently spent a number of years in correctional facilities, including three years serving time at the Ohio Penitentiary.

    Around the time he released The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy (in 1974 or 1975), he sang “33rd of August” from one of the cells where he had spent time.

    When is the 33rd of August?

    When a song has a specific date in the title (such as Matthew Ryan’s “3rd of October“), it is logical to ask about the significance of that date to the song. Here, the song is not clear about the meaning behind the made-up date of August 33. So, one might also wonder when is the thirty-third of August since the month only has thirty-one days?

    The logical answer, would be that it must be September 2, or two days after August 31. But of course, the song is not really about September 2 or the events of a specific date.

    The song opens, apparently, at a train station with a reference to a typical train station welcoming party from film. There is a crowd there, but the band has left. The only remaining musician is a singer who cannot see. The person narrating the song came to town seeking salvation on the thirty-third of August.

    Well, today there’s no salvation;
    The band’s packed up and gone;
    Left me standin’ with my penny in my hand;
    There’s a big crowd at the station,
    Where a blind man sings his songs;
    He can see what I can’t understand,
    It’s the thirty-third of August . . .

    The singer is troubled, possibly addicted to drugs (with references to “I am finally touchin’ down” and “a thousand voices screamin’ through my brain”). The singer tells us he was once busted for vagrancy and spent time in jail. He has angry thoughts and demons dancing and singing inside his “fevered brain.”

    It’s the thirty-third of August,
    And I am finally touchin’ down;
    Eight days from Sunday, Lord,
    Saturday bound.

    So what is the significance of the “thirty-third of August” reference? Maybe the singer is trying to beat his addiction. But the day of redemption (Sunday) is farther away than the seven days of a week — it is eight days away. The singer cannot get to Sunday, instead bound for the day traditionally reserved for sinning, “Saturday bound.” And, if you count, “eight days from Sunday” if you are counting from today’s date, it would mean today is also Saturday.

    So the singer is stuck on Saturday, trying to get to a Sunday that is out of reach. Similarly, like Sunday’s redemption, the thirty-third of August is a day that never comes.

    So the singer is struggling for the salvation mentioned in the first line of the song, trying to get to the day traditionally associated with redemption, Sunday. But the singer remains locked in a cycle of Saturday nights, the traditional night of sin.

    One line near the end of the song, though, provides a little hope for the singer, who declares, “Not all my God-like thoughts, Lord, are defiled.” In other words, the singer still has some good thoughts and is still struggling for salvation and has not given up. But that leaves us with the question of whether he would be better off if he had given up and was not reaching for something out of reach, like salvation, or the 33rd of August.

    Of course, everyone is entitled to interpret a song in whatever way has meaning for them. Others have found other meaning in “33rd of August.” One commenter has explained, that the lyrics “capture a feeling of disorientation, despair, and resilience in the face of adversity. The lyrics paint a picture of a person trying to make sense of a confusing world while also finding inner strength and resilience.”

    Others have found more specific meaning. Another writer has emphasized the religious connections in the song, going so far as to cite other references to the number “33” in the Bible. That author finds the rain the prisoner sees coming from his cell as the rain of redemption and cleansing.

    Another website, lists “33rd of August” as an anti-war song, although it does not explain how it came to that conclusion. It does make sense that the narrator in the song might be a veteran of the Vietnam War. Traditionally, it is soldiers who might expect a band welcoming them at a train station. Many vets of that war also battled drug addiction and would have faced violent thoughts from their service.

    And in the late 1960s, when the song was released, the war was on everyone’s minds, and so likely the songwriter Mickey Newbury might have placed the song in the voice of a veteran.

    I haven’t found any interviews or performances where Newbury talks about the inspiration for “33rd of August.” Of course, listeners can hear whatever they hear. But the song of course had meaning for the songwriter Mickey Newbury. On his album Looks Like Rain, he a line of “33rd of August”(“And outside my cell it sure as hell / It looks like rain”) as the title for the wonderful album that features the song. Below is Newbury’s version of his song with the lyrics.

    What do you think “33rd of August” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and . . . Eddie Vedder (Duet of the Day)

    In 2017, Glen Hansard sang “Falling Slowly,” from the movie “Once,” with a new partner, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

    One of my favorite songs from a movie was when Glen Hansard and  Markéta Irglová sang “Falling Slowly” in the 2007 film Once. In a Dublin music instrument shop, Irglová sat at the piano and Hansard played guitar as their voices and the song beautifully revealed two people connecting deeply.

    Hansard and Irglová wrote the song together during the production of the movie. It was released and performed during the time leading up to the film’s release, giving it a familiarity that helped carry the scene when I first watched the movie. The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

    Hansard and Irglová gave such a powerful performance of the song in Once, that it is hard to imagine another duo singing the song. That image is further burnished knowing that the two fell in love during the making of the movie, although the relationship only lasted a few years.

    So, when I saw there was a clip with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder singing “Falling Slowly” with Glen Hansard, I was not sure what to expect. But of course, Vedder and Hansard are great singers and performers, so it pretty amazing to hear what their voices can do with the song too.

    So, in this performance, Eddie Vedder and Glen Hansard perform “Falling Slowly” at the Ohana Fest in Dana Point California on September 9, 2017. The video begins with some discussion of their friendship and they get to the song around the 2:17 mark. Check it out. Make sure to stay for where Vedder’s voice rises and helps bring the song home starting around the 4:40 mark.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Sturgill Simpson has adopted a new name for his latest album, Passage du Desir (2024). Citing other artists who have adopted a different name for their work, like Eric Clapton’s Derek & the Dominoes or David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, Simpson is currently using the name Johnny Blue Skies.

    Simpson has long explained that he planned to release only five albums. So following his release of five albums — plus two pandemic era bonus bluegrass albums — fans wondered what he would do next. Simpson has said that in adopting a new name for his albums, it frees up his creativity while also allowing him to keep his birth name for himself.

    The new identity comes out of Simpson’s struggles with a vocal cord injury and his travels in Thailand and Paris. Additionally, he lost several people close to him, including one friend to suicide. These experiences gave Simpson new directions in his life, although the name “Johnny Blue Skies” originated from a name he was called by a Kentucky bartender when he was 21. The name has popped up in other work by Simpson, such as in the gatefold of his album Sailors Guide to Earth (“Beware of the dread pirate Johnny Blue Skies”).  So, as he has noted there was not a lot of planning in choosing the name, but “the paperwork was already done, I owned the name.”

    Of course, all of that biographical drama is mainly an interesting distraction for a listener who wonders what does Passage du Desir sound like? Well, to my ears, it sounds a lot like a Sturgill Simpson album, meaning, great music. It does feature some more orchestration than past albums, somewhat reminding me of Bruce Springsteen’s intentional sound deviation for Western Stars.

    Many of the songs have a country sound, but the album also incorporates some R&B, such as on “One for the Road” and “If the Sun Never Rises Again,” perhaps the biggest deviation from most of Simpson’s previous work.

    One of my favorite tracks is “One for the Road.” While it features lusher orchestration than we generally expect from Simpson’s past work, it would not be that out of place on A Sailor’s Guide to Earth album.

    Similarly, Pitchfork has called Passage du Desir sort of a comeback for Simpson, arguing that while it deviates in some ways from past work, it is a true follow-up to A Sailor’s Guide to Earth following Simpson’s deviation into bluegrass and The Ballad of Dood & Juanita. Giving the album 8.5 out of 10, it states, “This is country music caught between earthiness and spaciness, and it reintroduces him as one of Nashville’s oddest artists, who understands and subverts both the square mainstream and the outlaw fringes of country music.”

    Overall, if you love Simpsons’ past work, you’ll probably love Johnny Blue Skies too. Sturgill’s fans have always known we are in for a non-traditional ride with the guy. And that’s true of Johnny Blue Skies too.

    Below, Simpson discusses the new album and Johnny Blue Skies further.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    In 2003, viewers saw the emotion on Willie Nelson’s face as he performed with his friend Ray Charles for the last time.

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    The performance at New York’s Beacon Theatre, is memorable for a number of reasons. Of course, it is a great teaming of the three friends singing Russell’s classic song and they all do great. But it is the emotional impact of the performance that shines through the most, as you watch Willie Nelson’s face near tears for much of the song.

    Nathaniel Rateliff, on the One By Willie podcast, recently reported that Willie’s sadness was because he knew Ray Charles was very ill. In fact, the performance would the be last with the two old friends. Willie was reportedly very close to Ray Charles, as well as to Leon Russell, so it is a touching performance among the three men.

    I love you in a place
    Where there’s no space or time;
    I love you for my life,
    You’re a friend of mine;
    And when my life is over,
    Remember when we were together
    ;
    We were alone,
    And I was singing this song to you.

    After Russell and Nelson take turns at the beginning, they turn over the song to the great Ray Charles. Check it out, and have some tissues handy.

    The performance, as well as other songs from the concert, appear on Nelson’s album, Live and Kickin‘.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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