DAY 5
HANDSOME
“She calls me handsome like she means it.”
HANDSOME
The Concept.
Welcome to Day 5! This song is insanely special to us in a number of ways. It was the first song we released in what would become this album cycle and we actually released it right as the world was shutting down in March of 2020. We had already planned on releasing (and did) 4 singles that year that were the foundation for what you’ve heard this week so we’re very proud of the song it all started with!
Handsome is a deeply personal song for me as it deals with issues I’ve had with my body weight and overall appearance that I’ve dealt with my whole life. I’ll go a bit deeper on our album track by track that you’ll get to check out soon but when Phil first sent me an instrumental demo that was actually titled “Handsome,” I pretty much immediately knew that was gonna be on my heart to write about. We all deal with self image issues in our own way, so this song ended up becoming my way of venting those super personal frustrations but I definitely set out to do it in as relatable a way as possible.
LYRICS
I, I don’t want this, I don’t need this today. You’re telling me who you are, not where you’ve been or where you’re going.
I believe you’re something to see. and I doubt that I’ll ever get out.
you will not set me free.
she always says gimme love
she calls me handsome like she means it
I’m not too proud to make a stand but you always put me in my place
she’s always screaming gimme love
Take my time; 9-5. Unaware I’m dying
I see we’re doing this thing all wrong, but there ain’t no way around it
I know, I know, I know that you’ve been there, yeah you’ve been there.
You know you’re doing it right, I know you’re telling me lies.
Cause, baby, you are perfect at this.
Tell me, I’m
All of your problems and more
Before I walk out that door.
THE DEMO PROCESS
Listening back to this original demo for “Handsome” was really cool as it was another song where a lot of the final lyrics came out in my initial sketch of the song. There was a lot there such as the main refrain of “Give me love” and “She calls me handsome like she means it” in the chorus of the original demo. I also noticed that we had a long post chorus instrumental section that ultimately ended up being shortened into the chorus and I love that we did that as it helped make the song super lean. “Handsome”, to me, was always destined to be this very lean rock anthem and I feel like we did a lot from the demo stage to the final product to make sure that was accomplished. It’s maybe the most ‘no frills’ song on this EP but to borrow a phrase from our beloved Phil, it has so much swagger to it and I give that credit all to Phil.
-Josh Roa-Martinez- Vocals, Guitar, Programming
“I’m not too proud to make a stand but you always put me in my place…”
— Handsome
HANDSOME: LIVE AT HOME
What would a single released at the beginning of a global pandemic be without some nice (now-nostalgic) home-based content. We got to do this live video with a really cool team of our buddies Josh West heading up video and Jojo Centineo mixing some killer live audio for us.