Kristofferson’s ‘Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’ Birth of a Legacy

Kris Kristofferson ‘Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’

Feature Photo: Agency: Magna Artists, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Though perhaps most recognizable for its mournful interpretation by Johnny Cash, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” came into being by way of one of the greatest songwriters in popular music history – one Kris Kristofferson, who passed away this week.

Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson passed away at the age of 88, though given the distinct and multitudinous wealth of experience accrued by the songwriter throughout that time, he may as well have been 128.

A Renaissance man of sorts, by his early twenties, Kris Kristofferson had become a published writer, college graduate, Rhodes scholar, recognized boxer and rugby player, and U.S. Army Captain. By 1970, Kristofferson would begin receiving widespread recognition in the music world, specifically following Johnny Cash’s recording of his song, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” The tune, which has since been interpreted by a number of notable artists, including Waylon Jennings, is one which Kristofferson credits with helping him to get his start in the songwriting industry.

As fate would have it, Kristofferson would go on to become one of the most revered songwriters in country music based on the strength of the tune, along of course with his considerable narrative and artistic gifts which would lead to the creation of countless other iconic numbers.

In the case of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” many of the themes explored would become staples of the outlaw country sub-genre, which Kristofferson would have no small part in shaping over the course of his career. Despite the prevalence of such elements in the narrative framework – booze, smokes, drugs, and guitar pickin’ chief among them – there is a delicacy to the tune that renders it devoid of a certain bravado inherent within much outlaw country material.

The track explores matters of the heart more than any experience about which one would be inclined to boast. There is something very Appalachian about the tune, even if the decision to mention a city subway in the song heavily implies a city setting. The narrator depicted makes a note of several simplistic circumstances that could be interpreted as reflecting Appalachian life—more on that later.

This narrative framing introduces a number of possibilities with respect to the background of the character presented in the song, a background which goes largely unaddressed in any explicit terms throughout the tune’s duration. Perhaps the protagonist came from a more rural upbringing and is now left to navigate the alienation of life in a setting which feels unfamiliar and unwelcoming. Perhaps the perceived implication of such elements was merely an artistic device designed to cast a wider net and appeal to a broader range of listener. Perhaps this is all mere speculation, and Kristofferson had given little in the way of consideration to the origins of the character when crafting the song.

Therein lies part of the “magic” of exceptional songwriting; genuinely great songs often are not simply painting a lyrical picture; they are introducing multitudes of conceptual possibilities to which no one interpretation is necessarily correct. Thousands assemble in rooms to simultaneously sing the same lyric for thousands of distinct reasons at any number of concert events throughout the country on a regular basis. Given the lack of proclivity for transparency with regard to the precise meaning and inspiration of their work on the part of acclaimed writers, listeners – as a rule of thumb – tend to respect one another’s differing interpretations.

With that in mind, a great many listeners took to social media with their own interpretations of Kristofferson’s work upon hearing of his passing. Many such listeners spoke of “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” positing theories which cited the song as a commentary on everything from addiction to homelessness. While no interpretation is without merit, certain passages in the tune itself fail to support these notions. The song’s protagonist is depicted as rifling through his own closet while getting dressed, seemingly nullifying the suggestion that the protagonist may be a homeless person.

There is certainly an argument to be made about the role of addiction in the narrative. In fact, the narrator’s telling of events strongly suggests the likelihood of a struggle with active addiction. Specifically, given that by the song’s second line, the only character consistently represented in the narrative has woken up with a headache and had two beers for breakfast. This, compounded by straightforward references to illegal drugs in the song’s chorus section – of all places, appears to indicate that substance use plays a significant role in the overall narrative.

Of course, living hard and fast is far from irregular in the landscape of country music, specifically in the landscape of the outlaw country sub-genre. Much like his fellow Highwaymen – Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson – Kristofferson was known for weaving tales of individuals leading lives in which unhealthy habits are offset, in part, by underlying integrity and “everyman” decency which make for complex and nuanced characters which do not necessarily lend themselves to categorization in any definitive terms.

Weary and world-wise, the figurative and literal outlaws of the genre blurred the lines between good and evil, slowly destroying themselves – often to the chagrin of their loved ones – while attempting to make sense of the world and earn their keep– all while oftentimes maintaining a more consistent relationship with the man upstairs than many of the most devout churchgoers. These artists, along with the characters they create, have come to represent two disparate sides of the same coin: the contrasting and conflicting, yet somehow still symbiotic nature of the human experience.

It could be argued, however, that an emphasis on substance use merely shines a light on a symptom of the central issue and most potent source of despair for our protagonist; that being the collapse of all that was perceived to be of value and benefit in the protagonist’s life. In keeping with the country music tradition, this type of figurative collapse generally comprises a relationship gone wrong and/or the loss of one or more of the following: spouse, children, job, friends, social standing, dog, other.

The character brought to life as part of “Sunday Morning Coming Down” presents as a gentleman who perhaps once had it all: the American dream of a home and family – until such a time as this reality was undone by any number of lapses in judgement and moral/ethical failures from infidelity to substance abuse.

No mention is ever made of other occupants within the residence in which the narrator awoke during the events of the song, implying that the character lives alone. The unidentified narrator here is also stopped in his tracks by a number of interesting – if seemingly mundane – instances which appear to bring intense feelings to the surface for the character. These include observing a child playfully kicking a can, the scent of chicken being prepared, and a father with his daughter at a playground, kids singing at a Sunday school, and a ringing bell.

These instances, it would seem, are representative of a simplicity and wholesomeness which has gone missing from the narrator’s world. In these moments, the character is taken back to an unspecified something that he had lost along the way in life – somewhere, somehow.

But at the very nucleus of the composition, the underlying themes are much more tangible and relatable, even to those who may not necessarily see themselves in the song’s protagonists straight away. The themes most pertinent to the emotional resonance of the song are those of regret, alienation, and uncertainty. Such harrowing internal conundrums are not only likely to become a source of great stress and anxiety for most any person during their lifetime, they can all but be accepted as an inevitability.

It is the engagement of these types of fundamentally human themes that endows “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, and indeed, a great deal of Kris Kristofferson’s work, with an accessibility and applicability which, when compounded with a thoughtfulness and dutiful study of the human experience, connects with the spirit of a listener in ways that do not seem realistically plausible.

It is the delicacy and astuteness with which Kristofferson approached the subject matter of which he wrote that invigorated his songs with a humanity and sense of connection and understanding seldom broached in the world of popular music. Kris Kristofferson was many things: a singer, songwriter, actor, veteran, and more. But perhaps more than anything else, Kristofferson was a perpetual student of the human condition; constantly observing and assessing; sanding down abstractions and profundities into digestible, practical nuggets of wisdom to the end of guiding the common listener to greater enlightenment with regard to their own existence.

To this end, perhaps the characterization most befitting of the legendary songsmith would be that of “prophet” or “philosopher.” In any case, one could consider themselves substantiated in positing that, during his lifetime, Kris Kristofferson distinctly established himself as one of the greatest songwriters in American history.

Read More: Top 10 Kris Kristofferson Songs