“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” — Kris Kristofferson
***
So, after a long period of not slapping on my headphones and rocking out to YouTube music videos, my old habit started up again recently. It really is an addiction of sorts, and as such, it seems to have a mind of its own.
And all I know is that I love it.
Like all major digital services, YouTube has a good memory; it knows what I like. Thus, inevitably it has been surfacing lots of performances of songs written by one of my favorite songwriters, Kris Kristofferson.
As I was driving down the freeway yesterday, listening our local NPR affiliate (and my former employer) KQED, the news broke that Kris Kristofferson is gone. He died Saturday at the age of 88.
One of the things I dislike about aging is the ever-growing list of our generational talents silenced by death. As far as I know, he didn’t write anything recently, but “Me and Bobby McGee,” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, and “Why Me Lord” and “Riders in the Sky,” and “Loving Her Was Easier” among others, rank him as among the great American story-telling writers of my lifetime.
His lovely, haunting tunes will live on, echoing through time.
Also read: Kris Kristofferson: Five (or maybe 10) of his best songs (BBC)
Watch: Kris Kristofferson: The Counter-Culture Hero (YouTube)
Note: Howard Kohn and I shared story credit for the 1981 film, Rollover, starring Kris Kristofferson and Jane Fonda (Warner Brothers).
HEADLINES:
Supplies arrive by plane and by mule in North Carolina as Helene’s death toll tops 130 (AP)
Israel Strikes Multiple Fronts, Including Long-Distance Attack on Yemen (NYT)
Israeli Special Forces Launch Raids Into Lebanon Ahead of Expected Ground Incursion (WSJ)
Biden administration doubles down on tough asylum restrictions at border (AP)
Trump Allies Bombard the Courts, Setting Stage for Post-Election Fight (NYT)
State judge strikes down Georgia abortion ban (NBC)
At a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, former President Donald Trump seemed to casually suggest that a day of violence would put an end to crime. “One rough hour. And I mean real rough, the world will get it out, and it will end immediately. End immediately," he said. [HuffPost]
Why is Canada’s economy falling behind America’s? (Economist)
America’s Adversaries Are Targeting Its Cities and States (Foreign Policy)
NASA is selling a brand-new Moon rover (Economist)
Kris Kristofferson, rugged star of song and screen, dies at 88 (WP)
Baseball legend Pete Rose dies at the age of 83 (ABC)
California Governor Vetoes Sweeping A.I. Legislation (NYT)
California governor vetoes controversial AI bill in a win for Big Tech (WP)
‘Damn, That’s Crazy,’ Announces FEMA In Statement (The Onion)
LYRICS:
“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” by Kris Kristofferson
[Verse 1]
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 through my closet for my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
And I shaved my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day
[Verse 2]
I'd smoked my brain the night before
On cigarettes and songs that I'd been pickin'
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Cussin' at a can that he was kickin'
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
[Chorus]
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
[Verse 3]
In the park, I saw a daddy
With a laughing little girl who he was swingin'
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the song that they were singin'
Then I headed back for home
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'
And it echoed through the canyons
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday
[Chorus]
On the Sunday morning sidewalks
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned
Cause 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 sidewalk
Sunday mornin' comin' down
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