Sunday Best by Surfaces
“Surfaces” is a young, electro-pop duo that is making positive waves in the world of music. Currently, their popularity is rapidly surging, and the band’s top hit has quickly gained over 250 million streams on Spotify. The group’s website describes its mission this way, “Our music exists to spread love and positivity across the world. For those hurting, for those lost, we want every song to be a pathway that can lead anyone to brighter days. We often write our songs in ways that can better relate to the listener, so that they can be serviced by the stories and emotions we hope to capture with our words.” After meandering through their first and second recently released albums, I genuinely believe that statement is accurate. These young men seem to intentionally produce music not to manufacture hits but to soothe listeners. A lack of celebrity lust and desire is evident in their style and vibes to normal life with an uplifting trajectory.
Forrest Frank and Colin Padalecki, the two responsible for these retro sounds, are a couple of Texas boys who have stumbled into the spotlight. In their attempt to make positive music, “Sunday Best” has become their groundbreaking hit. The song sums up their whole mission. To Surfaces, sounds are leveraged to touch the soul: “Music is one of the most powerful platforms in the world for people to relate to one another, so we hope to create music that people can rejoice together in, no matter who they are or where they’re from.” Let’s enjoy the lyrics of this hit song and examine its worldview.
Chorus:
“Ayy, feeling good, like I should
Went and took a walk around the neighborhood
Feeling blessed, never stressed
Got that sunshine on my Sunday best (Yeah, ayy, ayy)”
I know this feeling. It’s that 5 PM on a Friday euphoria. It’s a sunset drive in mid-May with the windows down. The crisp air of a newly blossomed terrain and warmth of a changing season injects fresh joy and confidence. During the forced hibernation of the world’s COVID-19 crisis, these little strolls “around the neighborhood” are more precious than ever. A walk down the street unglues us from the headaches of digital screens, and claustrophobia of quarantine. It is true; A favorite song on the AirPods mixed with a mosey down the block makes us feel a little more “blessed’ and a little less “stressed.”
“Got that sunshine on my Sunday best” makes me smile. What a brilliant use of imagery; “Sunday best” refers to the act of dressing to impress. The outfit informs the mood: Sunday. The best button-down, combed hair, slick shoes. The pre-service praise experience in the car, congregational singing, the preaching of the word, parking lot conversations. The family lunch, afternoon nap, sunshine itself. Even nonreligious people associate light and rest with the first day of the week. All of us feel weird when it’s gloomy and raining on a Sunday. Surfaces seem to push their listeners into a Sunday mood by doing Sunday things.
Verse:
“Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge
All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it
It's gonna get difficult to stand, but hold your balance
I just say whatever 'cause there is no way around it 'cause”
Pre-Chorus:
“Everyone falls down sometimes
But you just gotta know it'll all be fine
It's okay, uh-huh-huh, uh
It's okay, it's okay”
Here is where I have mixed emotions; my worldview and the world itself cannot fit into these lyrical maxims. No, this little tune is not meant to be a philosophical essay, but unfortunately a lot of the population builds their worldview off of movies and songs. Lyrics matter. They can be enjoyed at a surface level, yet they must be analyzed.
The first three lines could be summed up this way: stay positive, be wise, and do the right thing. Yes there are challenges and obstacles, but just stay above the fray and keep grindin’ it out. The result will turn out for good, so don’t worry, be happy. In the end “it’ll all be fine.” A simple comfort is found in that sort of kumbayaism, but is it reality?
Parallels could be made to what I call “Proverbs only philosophy.” The book of Proverbs conveys many cause and effect principles under the guidance of wisdom which can be accessed by anyone who desires to make a better life. Though it must be noted that the pursuit of Proverbial wisdom requires the presuppositional “fear of the Lord” in order to define wisdom itself. Nevertheless, after reading through Proverbs you come away with the idea that those who seek wisdom (do the right thing) obtain success while those who act foolishly (do the wrong thing) fail.
If Surfaces is just echoing what the entire counsel of God teaches, then I want nothing to do with the band or the Bible. The world is not that nice. People, large swaths of them, who do the right things get hurt, wronged, and even killed. On the other hand, plenty of scoundrels who cheat, steal, and abuse achieve gross success at times. It was not “all fine” for the old lady who was embezzled out of her late husband’s retirement, but it was just fine for the thief who sits on a tropical beach spending her embezzled money. If those Proverbial principles are supposed to be dogmatic, then they must be fairytales.
In God’s wisdom, he included the book of Ecclesiastes in the canon of Scripture. The author in this piece of biblical literature portrays a person who seems to be worn out by the promises of wisdom. Time’s swift pace, the nondiscrimination of death, and the seemingly random nature of life make the assurances of pursuing wisdom not so secure. Sobriety seeps into the soul almost to the point of complete despair from Ecclesiastes, but the author meets a man in his shattered kumbayaism asking him to embrace and enjoy the moment God has given him. It is true time is quick, death is imminent, and the future could hold tragedy, yet that is not for us to dictate. The lyrics above provide a small taste of this realism when describing challenges: “I just say whatever 'cause there is no way around it.” A more eloquent framing is found in The Lord of the Rings:
Frodo: “I wish it need not have happened in my time.”
Gandalf: “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Verse:
“Some days you wake up and nothing works, you feel surrounded
Gotta give your feet some gravity to get you grounded
Keep good things inside your ears just like the waves and sound did
And just say whatever 'cause there is no way around it”
The balance of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is more evident in verse two. Some days, some decades, nothing works, yet life must go on. Life must go on doing the wise things that offer the highest chances of flourishing alongside the risk that it could all crumble once again. This is the path all of us are on. What can stabilize such a voyage?
Surfaces references “some gravity to get you grounded” which they identify as “keeping good things inside your ears.” I have no idea what that means for them, but for me it must be something solid. It cannot simply be good vibes or positive thinking. The firm foundation of my coming and going, my success and tragedies, life and death is the coming and going, the tragedy and triumph, the death and resurrection of the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ. I live because he lives. That’s not some metaphysical milkshake; it is documented history.
The story of Jesus portrays the mysterious sovereignty of God who works all things for his glory. Jesus is wisdom, he is the embodiment of Proverbial principles, and he experienced the ultimate injustice Ecclesiastes laments; He lived this life too. For me, to live is Christ because his resurrection assures me I will not eternally stumble whether I enjoy the blessings of Proverbs or the curses of Ecclesiastes. Not “good sounds,” rather “true gospel.”
Chorus:
“Ayy, feeling good, like I should
Went and took a walk around the neighborhood
Feeling blessed, never stressed
Got that sunshine on my Sunday best (Yeah, ayy, ayy)”
A calming light can be found in this song, but it is only a faint beam. I will probably press play again. The sun, the sky, the beats, the swagger, they all give me a boost. Lighthearted sentimentality and good vibes can be a pillow for a gloomy day. What they cannot be is a bedrock for our darkest moments. Life in its raw form requires a search for truth that meets reality. Truth that does not disappear when Proverbs turns to Ecclesiastes. In the end, the Son can be my only sunshine, and Sunday must represent much more than easy days. Sunday is a reminder of Christ’s resurrection.
Here is the song & music video:
For deeper introductions to the Bible’s wisdom literature check out The BIble Project’s helpful videos: