Johnny Cash – Sunday Morning Coming Down

“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” is a song written by Kris Kristofferson that was recorded in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a number one hit on the Billboard US Country charts for Johnny Cash.

The biggest success for the song came from the Johnny Cash performance, which had been taped live at the Ryman Auditorium during a taping of The Johnny Cash Show as part of a “Ride This Train” segment, with filmed background visuals showing a down and out wanderer roaming around the Public Square area of Shelbyville, Tennessee. Cash’s version won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year in 1970 and hit number one on the country chart.

From the album The Johnny Cash Show
B-side “I’m Gonna Try to Be That Way”
Released May 1970
Recorded 1969
Genre Country, folk
Length 4:04
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Kris Kristofferson
Producer(s) Bob Johnston

Johnny Cash – Sunday Morning Coming Down lyrics

Well I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head, that didn’t hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

I’d smoked my mind the night before
With cigarettes and the songs I’d been pickin’
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Playin’ with a can that he was kicking
Then I walked across the street
And caught the Sunday smell of someone’s fryin’ chicken
And it took me back to somethin’
That I’d lost somewhere, somehow along the way.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk
I’m 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’
That’s half as lonesome as the sound
Of a sleepin’ city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughin’ little girl who he was swingin’
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs they were singin’
Then I headed down the street
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin’
And it echoed thru the canyon
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk
I’m 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’
That’s half as lonesome as the sound
Of a sleepin’ city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.