Kris Kristofferson on Austin City Limits

November 13, 2007

I found this video of Kris Kristofferson on Austin City Limits over the weekend. “Here Comes That Rainbow Again” isn’t one of Kris’s better known songs, but it’s a good ‘un.

One thing I have always liked about the way Kristofferson writes is that it is so real and natural.  There is a particular line in this song that is a great example.  When the kids tell the waitress that they only have a penny between them she replies, “Them’s two for a penny.”  She doesn’t say, “Those are two for a penny,” or “two for a penny.”  That’s not what a waitress in an Oklahoma roadside cafe would say.  She’d use the word “them’s” because that’s what would naturally roll off of her tongue.  The truck driver also says, “them candies ain’t two for a penny.”  Natural.
I also love the way he uses things that everyone can relate to and the ideas they convey.   “The smell of the rain on the wind.”  We all know that smell, but is there any other way to describe it than the way he does in this song?  That’s what separates songwriters from poets, and Kris Kristofferson is a poet.

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