11 Superb Sunday Songs | Playlist 🎧

1. Nas, “Brunch on Sundays”

Ft. Blxst

💿 King’s Disease II • 🏷 Mass Appeal • 📅 2021

“Bottomless bellinis, afternoon sun / Girls twerkin’ on the tables they jus’ havin’ fun.” Woo, apparently 🎙 Nas (Nasir Jones), apparently. The 🏆 Grammy-winning rapper impresses on his 13^th studio album, 💿 King’s Disease II, which is consistent from start to finish.  On the song at hand, 🎵 “Brunch on Sundays,” eating on Sunday isn’t the focus.  Furthermore, morality and spirituality aren’t the modus operandi. ‘Course, you don’t need me to tell you that given the excerpted lyrics from the first verse of the record.

In the context of King’s Disease II, “Brunch on Sundays” keeps the record rolling.  Nas unveils another feature, courtesy of 🎙 Blxst.  As stated, the theme isn’t comprised of wholesome matters but rather smoking and sex.  Let the chorus be Exhibit B:

“That’s brunch on Sundays
Bring the hookah to the table she gon’ smoke until her lungs ache
That’s brunch on Sundays
Postin’ pictures on the ‘Gram hastaggin’, ‘Sunday fun day’.”

Yah, basically, things get wild. Jones doesn’t lie on the third verse when he states, “That’s brunch on Sundays, this one’s different / It’s the good guy mixed with American Pimp shit.” Blxst supports Jones on the chorus (at times), getting his biggest moment on the bridge: “You fuckin’ with the latest and greatest of our time.” HYFR!

2. Koryn Hawthorne, “Sunday”

💿 I AM • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2020

“I don’t wanna have to wait ‘til Sunday / I need You always,” contemporary gospel singer 🎙 Koryn Hawthorne asserts on 🎵 “Sunday” from her 2020 album, 💿 I AM.  The former 📺 The Voice contestant makes it crystal clear that God’s presence transcends Sunday – “Not just for one day.” She makes this explicitly clear on the bridge section, as she highlights the six other days of the week, far too often unassociated with The Most High.  “I really need You on Monday / I really need You on Tuesday,” she sings, adding, “Friday (I Don’t wanna have to wait) / Saturday (Oh, no, no).”

Of course, prior to the chorus and bridge, Hawthorne uses the verses to walk through her schedule.  It’s relatable, as you might expect, particularly Monday, where, “Got work, I don’t wanna wake up.” Still, even if Mondays are meh days, she acknowledges the blessing: “Thankful that You gave me life / Even though I don’t always do right.” “Sunday” in the hands of Koryn Hawthorne is SWEET!

3. Surfaces, “Sunday Best”

💿 Where the Light Is • 🏷 Surfaces Music / TenThousaand Projects • 📅 2019

“Ayy, feeling good, like I should / Went and took a walk around the neighborhood,” Forrest sings on the vibe that is 🎵 “Sunday Best.”  “Sunday Best” appears on Surfaces’ 2019 album, 💿 Where the Light Is.  Even so, the record wouldn’t ‘blow up’ until 2020. Forrest continues the vibe on the ultra-catchy, infectious chorus: “Feeling blessed, never stressed / Got that sunshine on my Sunday best.”

As intended, listening to “Sunday Best” makes you feel good.  This is an inoffensive, pleasant pop record.  Furthermore, Surfaces uplifts listeners with positivity.  No, there’s no brand-new revelations we haven’t heard, but what Forrest does serve up resonates.  For example, “Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge / All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it” is wise.  Also true is the assertion made on the pre-chorus that “Everyone falls down sometimes / But you just gotta know it’ll all be fine.” Sure, it’s not as easy as just saying some words that’ll magically make everything alright, but Forrest and 🎙 Colin Padalecki deliver a strong, must-hear message.

4. Kanye West, “Closed on Sunday”

💿 JESUS IS KING • 🏷 Getting Out Our Dreams • 📅 2019 

🎵“Closed on Sunday,” an intriguing song from 💿JESUS IS KING, runs past two-and-a-half-minutes. 🎙 Kanye West works with a minor key, and there’s a sense of enigma regarding the production work. Besides his own production skills, he produces with 🎛 Brian ‘AllDay’, 🎛 Frederico Vindver, 🎛 Angel Lopez, and perhaps most notably, 🎛 Timbaland.  Even with that many producers, “Closed on Sunday” is subdued, almost signaling that sense of the Sabbath Day – a day to praise, reflect, and refrain from work.

Of course, the lyric that most stands out appear right at the onset, via the chorus: “Closed on Sunday, you’re my Chick-fil-A”.  At a most basic level, Chick-fil-A is a Christian fast-food restaurant that is closed on Sunday, like many places were back in the day.  Of course, this is a controversial lyric, given the organization’s controversies, specifically regarding the LGBTQ+ community 🏳️‍🌈. Beyond the Chick-fil-A talk, West tones things down singing, “Hold the selfies, put the ‘Gram away / Get your family, y’all hold hands and pray / … No more livin’ for the culture, we nobody’s slave.”  If nothing else, “Closed on Sunday” is a compelling discussion piece, and as the linked Genius article suggests, finds the 🏆 Grammy winner in a different mindset compared to the past.

5. Grace, “Church on Sunday”

💿 FMA • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2016

“Hate to see you’re falling for me / And I hate to leave you lonely / But my heart is cold as can be / Gotta go to church on Sunday.” 🎙 Grace Sewell (known simply as 🎙 Grace) of 🎵“You Don’t Own Me” fame, elevates the spirit on 🎵 “Church on Sunday.” “Church on Sunday” serves as the opening song on her under-appreciated debut, 💿 FMA.  

The record features gospel-infused, throwback production.  She confesses her sin – a cold heart.  Unable to love the cute boys she sees, she’s “gotta go to church on Sunday.” The excerpted chorus continues:

“Used to wear my heart on my sleeve
Everything is not what it seems
Boy, you should be running from me
I gotta go to church on Sunday.”

Honestly, that’s about the size of it.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 15 Songs for the Days of the Week
🔗 🎧 12 Songs to Celebrate the Weekend…Or Not

6. Billie Holiday, “Gloomy Sunday”

With Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra

💿 The Essential Billie Holiday • 🏷 Sony • 🗓 2010

“Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumber-less / Dearest the shadows, I live with are numberless / Little white flowers will never awaken you / Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you.” 🎵 “Gloomy Sunday” is bummer city… While this 🎙 Billie Holiday gem is beautiful (covered by numerous musicians), it’s also chilling and haunting, thanks to its morbid content. Holiday does a fantastic job covering it but that doesn’t eliminate the controversy, which comes into play is two-fold.

First, the song’s protagonist exhibits suicidal thoughts. That’s incredibly unsettling in its own right:

“My heart and I have decided to end it all
Soon there’ll be candles and prayers that are sad.”

Those lyrics speak for themselves.  What’s worse and more eerie, however, is “Gloomy Sunday” has earned the reputation as the Hungarian suicide song, “blamed for being connected to more suicides than any other song in history.” Yikes 😮! Adding more fuel to the fire, the composer, Hungarian pianist 🎼✍ Rezső Seress,  committed suicide in 1968! Yikes 😮! Worth noting, the lyrics that became popularized were written by poet 🎼✍ László Jávor (no, he didn’t commit suicide). “Gloomy Sunday” is a record to be wary of.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Songs Centered Around or Referencing Suicide, Vol. 1
🔗 😈🎶 Billie Holiday, “Gloomy Sunday”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 5

7. Maroon 5, “Sunday Morning”

💿 Songs About Jane • 🏷 A&M / Octone • 📅 2002

“Sunday morning, rain is falling / Steal some covers, share some skin…” 🎵 “Sunday Morning” ranks among the best 🎙 Maroon 5 songs.  Notably, it appears on their breakout, debut album, 💿 Songs About Jane (2020).  The record is a total vibe, not to mention being romantic.  Previously, it was featured on the list, 🎧 10 Songs Where the Ten Commandments Were Broken.  Why, you ask? Well, 🎙 Adam Levine and his then unnamed lover happen to rest on Sunday, but they don’t necessarily keep the day holy as the commandment suggests 👿 😂 (“You twist to fit the mold that I am in” or “Fingers trace your every outline / Paint a picture with my hands”).

For whatever reason, “Sunday Morning” seems to get the least love of Songs About Jane’s singles.  It shouldn’t as this sunny, pop number has as much punch and redeeming value as anything else.  Besides the production, harmonic progression, and vocals, the chorus is a major selling point:

“That may be all I need
In darkness, she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
Driving slow on Sunday morning
And I will never leave.” 

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 10 Songs Where the Ten Commandments Were Broken

8. The Strokes, “Why Are Sundays So Depressing”

💿 The New Abnormal • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2020

“Like a swan, I don’t miss swimming / All my friends left, and they don’t miss me.” Well, that is depressing, 🎙 Julian Casablancas, if I do say so myself.  A swan without water? Friends leaving? No Bueno! No good… or so it seems, and that’s just the first verse of 🎵 “Why Are Sundays So Depressing.” This, my friends, is a song of introspection, reflection central.

The guitars are prominent on the groovy, if ‘depressing’ seventh track from 💿 The New Abnormal (2020). In the context of The New Abnormal, the first album by 🎙 The Strokes in seven years, “Why Are Sundays So Depressing” is more straightforward compared to other songs.  Even so, it still has its fair share of colorful, synth touches.  Groove bodes well in The Strokes’ favor. Depressing or not, there’s no way to listen to this and not move some part of your body. Oh, and providing more insight into the lyrics, a sizable part of the depression Casablancas seems to be experience has to do with those pesky matters of the heart.  Lines like, “I love you and I’m honest, so you know it’s no lie” and “I transition in / I’m making your body wait” provide key hints.

9. Foo Fighters, “Sunday Rain”

💿 Concrete Gold • 🏷 Roswell / RCA • 📅 2017

“Don’t leave me drowning in your Sunday rain / It’s right down the drain / Don’t leave me drowning in your Sunday rain / It’s always a shame, oh no.” Sounds like a negative connotation for sure! The music and vocals on 🎙 Foo Fighters’ 🎵 “Sunday Rain”, which appears on their 2017 album, 💿 Concrete and Gold, are enigmatic and dark.

The vocal tone of front man 🎙 Dave Grohl drummer 🎙 Taylor Hawkins sounds smoky, as if he’s ‘up to no good.’ “You got your head in the ceiling,” he sings on second half of the first verse, continuing, “When are you gonna come down? / When you’re that high, can you feel it?” Well, can you? Melodically, “Sunday Rain” is a beautiful record, particularly the chorus (excerpted at the top).  Among the highlights are the bridge, which contrasts the harmonic progression and amplifies the intensity.

“Are you a little afraid?
A little alone?
A little exhausted?”

The jazz piano solo at the end is a nice, quirky touch.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 15 Songs for the Days of the Week
🔗 🎧 12 Songs to Celebrate the Weekend…Or Not

10. Big Sean, “Sunday Morning Jetpack”

Ft. The-Dream

💿 I Decided. • 🏷 Def Jam • 📅 2017

“Thank you, God, for all my setbacks / ‘Cause he the reason I’m able to give back / This feels like my Sunday morning jetpack / Feel like I sent prayers up and got blessed back…” 🎵 “Sunday Morning Jetpack” featuring 🎙 The-Dream is among the most mellow songs on 💿 I Decided., the fourth studio album by 🎙 Big Sean.  Furthermore, “Sunday Morning Jetpack” is one of the most beautiful songs. Here, Big Sean thrives in reflective mode, as exhibited by the chorus excerpted above.

The-Dream is used limitedly, on the bridge, but even so, he sounds exceptional. His tenor remains glorious, with the bridge section bringing welcome contrast to the record.

“Praise, so many times I prayed for you
I put up prayers for you
Praise, for all the times that you prayed for me
All the nights you stayed by me
All the nights that you cried and all the days I coulda died
Because of you I survived, because of you I’m still alive.”

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 15 Songs for the Days of the Week
🔗 🎧 12 Songs to Celebrate the Weekend…Or Not
🔗 🎧 10 Songs Perfect for the Morning

11. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, “Sunday Candy”

💿 Surf • 🏷 Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment • 📅 2015

“I come to church for the candy your peppermints is the truth / I’m pessimistic on Monday if I had tweaked and missed you.” Sigh, there have been a plethora of songs written about candy. The thing is, many such songs are (1) NOT about candy and (2) ARE sexual.  In this case, 🎵 “Sunday Candy” (💿 Surf, 2015), performed by 🎙 Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, bucks the trend… for the most part.

🎙 Chance the Rapper literally mentions candy here.  Furthermore, he goes on to mention his purpose for coming to Christmas: “I come to Christmas for dinner, fifty rolls on my plate.”  Also, 🎙 Jamila Woods, prior, throws communion in the mix, but with some double entendre:

“You gotta move slowly
Take and eat my body like it’s holy
I’ve been waiting for you this whole week
I’ve been praying for you, you’re my Sunday candy.”

Okay, let’s unpack some things. Chance isn’t being literal about sucking on a peppermint. This is about inspiration – spiritual food provided from church and specifically, his grandmother.  As for the sexual detour with a dash of communion, it feels less like a hook up and more of an established relationship transcending sex if that makes sense.  Continue listening, reading, and analyzing the lyrics, and there’s clearly a spiritual vibe that we don’t always often experience in a pop or rap record.