Kris Kristofferson - From the bottle to the bottom (1971)

not blocked in Germany anymore :-)
Fair use - no copyright violation intended.

the song is Sony Music content, the movie Wooly Boys is owned by Lionsgate

I really love this song and these movies
("A star is born", 1976 and "Wooly Boys", 2001).

The lyrics are just brilliant.

KRIS,YOU ARE A GREAT POET!!!!

This was one of the first videos I made with scenes from Kris' movies and I first uploaded it in Feb 2009. I didn't change anything with the re-upload although I could have improved
some things with the better software I now have, but I didn't want to... It's still one of my faves :-)

"From the Bottle to the Bottom" won the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (with Kris and Rita)
The solo version here only is on compilation albums of Kris... On one of them there was this date to the song...

Already in April 1969 Billy Walker and the Tennessee Walkers' version of Kris' song peaked in the Top 20 of the country charts...

The "happy clam" took me some sleepless night, until I learned this:
The full phrase is "happy as a clam at high tide." Clams can only be dug up at low tides, so at high tide a clam is safer and secure, so therefore, happy.

Thanks W. for your helping hand to get the duo version with Rita from their Full Moon album. It's really cute.
I love them both, although maybe Kris singing solo fits a little better ;-)

FROM THE BOTTLE TO THE BOTTOM
You ask me if I'm happy now
That's good as any joke I've heard
It seems that since I've seen you last
I've done forgot the meaning of the word
If happiness is empty rooms
and drinkin' in the afternoon
well I suppose I'm happy as a clam
But if it's got a thing to do
with smilin' or forgettin' you
well I don't guess that I could say I am

Chorus:
Did you ever see a down-and-outer
waking up alone
without a blanket on to keep him from the dew
When the water from the weeds
had soaked the papers
he'd been puttin' in his shoes
to keep the ground from comin' through
And his future feels as empty
as the pockets in his pants
because he's never seen a single dream come true
That's the way that I've been feelin'
since the day I started falling
From the bottle to the bottom stool by stool
Learnin' hard to live with losin' you

You wonder if I'm better off
with freedom now to do the things I choose
Well, all my time's my own,
and I got nothin' left but sleepin' time to lose.
There's no one here to carry on
If I stay out the whole night long
or give a tinker's damn if I don't call
I'm livin' like I wanted to
And doin' things I wanna do
And nothin' means a thing to me at all.

From The Bottle To The Bottom

Du fragst mich, ob ich jetzt glücklich bin.
Das ist besser als jeder Witz, den ich je gehört habe.
Es scheint, seit ich dich zuletzt gesehen habe,
hab ich die Bedeutung des Wortes vergessen.
Wenn Glück leere Zimmer und 
trinken schon am Nachmittag bedeutet-
Gut, dann schätze ich, ich bin überaus glücklich und zufrieden.
Aber wenn Glück was zu tun hat
mit Lächeln oder dich zu vergessen,
dann glaub ich nicht, dass ich sagen könnte, dass ich es bin.

Hast du je Jemanden ohne Heim und Geld gesehen,
der allein aufwacht,
ohne Decke, die den Tau von ihm abhält.
Wenn das Wasser vom Gras das Papier durchnässt hat,
das er in seine Schuhe getan hatte
damit der Boden nicht durchkommt.
Und seine Zukunft fühlt sich so leer an 
wie die Taschen seiner Hose,
weil er keinen einzigen Traum gesehen hat, der je wahr geworden ist.
Das ist es, was ich fühle
seit dem Tag an dem ich anfing zu fallen,
von der Flasche auf den Boden Schemel für Schemel,
um langsam leben zu lernen während ich dich verliere.

Du fragst dich, ob ich besser dran bin
mit der Freiheit jetzt, die Dinge zu tun, die ich tun möchte.
Gut, all meine Zeit gehört jetzt mir, und ich hab nichts mehr zu verlieren 
außer Zeit zu schlafen
Da ist keiner hier, um weiter zu machen
falls ich die ganze Nacht wegbleibe
oder sich drum schert, wenn ich nicht anrufe.
Ich lebe jetzt wie ich leben wollte
und tue Dinge, die ich tun will
und nichts bedeutet mir überhaupt mehr etwas.

http://chapter33.hamtwoslices.net/articles/77.html
http://chapter33.hamtwoslices.net/articles/78.html