“Sunday Best” by Handsome Ghost - A Song Feature

     “Sunday Best” stands as a quiet testimonial to the fervent commitment that Handsome Ghost holds to its craft. The song includes gentle crescendos and nuances that do not interfere with the peacefulness of the melody or the sentiment within the lyrics, but significantly enhance the attractiveness of the song.

      Handsome Ghost explains that “Sunday Best” is about attending a funeral with somebody you love who is mourning someone you did not know. From there, the interpretation is left to the listener. The song begins with an attention-gripping acoustic guitar riff and sonic accompaniment. When the vocals enter, we learn that the death was expected, but that didn’t prevent the news from coming as a shock. The voice inflection at the word “shock” reinforces the effect of the news and evidences the care that Handsome Ghost placed in the writing and recording of the song.

      Just prior to the second verse, there is a crescendo (at 1:30) in which the notes create the sense of bubbles accelerating as they rise to the surface of a deep body of water. The relationship described during second verse allows fundamentally different conclusions, but we want to believe it was the person’s father who sadly passed. And we choose to view the final lines of “I am gonna try” as being akin to the final scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan.” In the final scene, the elderly gentleman seeks reassurance that he lived up to his commitment to lead a good life, a commitment made upon the death of someone he respected.

     Handsome Ghost is multi-instrumentalist Eddie Byun and vocalist Tim Noyes. They collaborated in the writing and the production of “Sunday Best.” As a second connection with “Saving Private Ryan,” like the Tom Hanks character in the movie, Noyes' previous profession was teaching. We recognize the importance of teachers, but we're pleased that Noyes made the change.

     “Sunday Best” by Handsome Ghost

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Lyrics of “Sunday Best” by Handsome Ghost (some best guesses)

Too soon

Awaking in the dark

We knew

Still came as a shock

And we drive

Back to your hometown

Low white

Roses on the ground

So you speak your mind

In your Sunday best

Share some secret code

That I don't know yet

Here was good to you

It was sweet and pure

All the nights that you

Could've begged him for

In this hotel bed

When you switched the light

I am gonna try

I am gonna try

I am gonna try

Now I am gonna try