Johnny Cash–Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down

There’s no day of the week so loaded as a Sunday.  Friday and Saturday may bring good times, but with Sunday comes greater meaning: the end of the weekend, the end of the party, religious rigor, relaxation and much more.  One of the songs that best captures the weight of its many shades is Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.  It was written by Kris Kristofferson, but it was Johnny Cash who poured his soul into it.  The song recognizes that Sunday should be a day of redemption and contemplation, but it only manages to achieve the latter.  Instead, it reveals a lack of peace and a disconnectedness that lead to crushing loneliness.  It’s bad enough to be down-and-out, hungover and on your own, but to see the bonds that others form on Sunday (religious, familial, social) while remaining on the outside is a cruel fate.  Just try not to be moved as Cash delivers one of the most isolating verses in all of country history:

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