Meaning of "Sunday Best" by Augustana

The lyrics of "Sunday Best" delve into themes of longing, loss, and the inability to fully move on from a past relationship. The song portrays a sense of yearning for someone who is no longer present, as the narrator describes how they constantly think about this person even in their sleepless nights. The repetition of the lines "And the ocean's getting warmer" and "And California's on her mind" suggest that the narrator's love interest has moved to a different place, possibly California, which adds to their feelings of distance and longing.

The lyrics also convey a sense of confusion and frustration in the narrator's struggle to understand why this person never cries. They wonder about the emotional state of their love interest, especially when the lyrics mention that "Boston's always raining" and they "never ever seemed alive." This juxtaposition of rain in Boston, typically associated with sadness, and the lack of emotion from the love interest creates a dissonance and further feeds the narrator's longing for connection and understanding.

Additionally, the repetition of the phrase "already gone away" emphasizes the finality of the separation and the narrator's acknowledgement that they have already moved on. However, despite this acknowledgment, both the narrator and the love interest remain haunted by their unresolved emotions. The lyrics create a sense of parallelism, with the narrator stating that they are "already out of the door" while the love interest is "already out of here." This highlights the similarity in their situations and implies that even though they are physically apart, their emotional connection remains.

Overall, "Sunday Best" captures the bittersweet and poignant emotions of longing for someone who has already left. It explores the complexities of human emotions, the struggle to understand and move on, and the lingering effects of lost love.