Johnny Cash

nothin’ short of dyin’

by Mich

’Cause there’s somethin’ in a Sunday, that makes a body feel alone’

Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down

Well, I woke up Sunday mornin’
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 for 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 songs I’d been pickin’
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Playin’ with a can that he was kickin’

Then I walked across the street
And caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin’ chicken
And Lord it took me back to somethin’
That I lost somewhere, somehow along the way

On a Sunday mornin’ sidewalk
I’m wishin’ Lord that I was stoned
’Cause there’s somethin’ in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone

And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’
As half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleepin’ city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin’ comin’ down

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughin’ little girl that 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 through the canyon
Like the disappearin’ dreams of yesterday

On a Sunday mornin’ sidewalk
I’m wishin’ Lord that I was stoned
’Cause there’s somethin’ in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone

And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’
As half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleepin’ city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin’ comin’ down

Songwriter: Kris Kristofferson

Singer: Johnny Cash

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Twist of fate gave Waylon Jennings life — and guilt

by Mich

“We’re put here on earth to make our own destiny. I don’t think there’s anything you can do this way or that way to change anything.”

Remembering Waylon “Hoss” Jennings, who died on February 13, 2002. He was 64.

In 1959, Waylon was a member of Buddy Holly’s band that was on a “Winter Dance Party” tour of the Midwest. Waylon and Buddy, both 22, were teen-age friends from Lubbock, Texas.

The weather in Minnesota that February night was rotten and Buddy decided to leave the tour bus and charter a small plane to get to the next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota.

TRADED SEATS ON PLANE

The plane had room for only three passengers. It was decided that Buddy, Waylon and band member Tommy Allsup would take the plane, but band member The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) had the flu and wanted to get to Moorhead as soon as he could and asked Waylon for his seat on the plane.

When Buddy was told that Waylon was not going on the plane he said to his friend in jest, “Well, I hope your ol’ bus freezes up.” And Waylon replied in jest, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes.”

About an hour and a half later, around 1 a.m., the plane crashed into a cornfield outside Mason City, Iowa, killing the three musicians and the pilot.

Crash site

The casual joke haunted Waylon for the rest of his life and led to years of a $1,500-a-day cocaine addiction.

”I did more drugs than anybody you ever saw in your life.”

He finally quit cold turkey in 1984.

In another twist of fate that wintry Minnesota night, 17-year-old band member Ritchie Valens asked Tommy Allsup for his seat on the plane. They tossed a coin to decide and Ritchie won the toss — and lost his life.

*[Backstory below]

THE HIGHWAYMEN

Waylon lived another 42 years and recorded 60 albums, including sixteen country singles that topped the charts.

In the mid-1980s, he teamed up with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson to form the quartet ‘The Highwaymen,’ making records and doing concert tours.

Waylon Jennings was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 2001.

*PLANE CRASH STORY HERE

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