Entirely aside from the whether you get a kick of making fun of us of alkies as others are suggesting (I'll stay out that): another way of looking at the song is a message of hope -- the whole song is essentially the AA first step: I can't stop drinking, my life is hell, I've lost everything, people around me are leading normal lives, I can see that now, I'm screwed.
Here's an interview with Mr Kristofferson:
KK: I was working the Gulf of Mexico on oil rigs, flying helicopters. I'd lost my family to my years of failing as a songwriter. All I had were bills, child support, and grief. And I was about to get fired for not letting 24 hours go between the throttle and the bottle. It looked like I'd trashed my act. But there was something liberating about it. By not having to live up to people's expectations, I was somehow free.
ESQ: You were also a drunken mess onstage and off, right?
KK: I had to get plastered to go out there. There were decades I didn't play sober. I thought, Who would want to? But at some point, I decided that if it was important enough to me to keep doing it as art, I should do it with all my tools.
