History of "Sunday Morning Coming Down"
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" was written by Kris Kristofferson when he was working as a janitor in a recording studio. While Kristofferson recorded the song himself for his debut album, it was Johnny Cash who took the tune to Number One in 1970.
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" lyrics
The lyrics of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" are incredibly sad and lonely, talking about a guy who sees loneliness in everything he passes. From a dad swinging his little girl at the park to the smell of fried chicken and a little kid "cussing at the cat that he was kicking." But, it's Kristofferson's lonely chorus that ties the whole thing together in an exquisite conclusion-to-the-story way:
On the Sunday morning sidewalk,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
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.
Who has recorded "Sunday Morning Coming Down"?
Kristofferson was expressly told that he would be fired if he ever tried to pass off his songs to the artists who came into the studio, but he gave this song to Cash anyway. It has also been recorded by Hank Ballard, the Mother Hips, Shawn Mullins, Bobby Osborne, and Trace Adkins, among others.
