Born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1969, Duncan Sheik grew up in South Carolina but spent many of his early years staying with his grandparents in New Jersey. Inspired to play the piano while there, he later switched to electric guitar and performed in bands throughout high school. A fan of musical theater from a young age, he also acted in school plays and attended the occasional Broadway show with his mother. While studying at Brown University, he played in a band with Lisa Loeb but began shopping his own demo tape soon after graduation. After moving to Los Angeles, he appeared with His Boy Elroy on a 1993 album for Epic, and spent several years writing songs before he signed a solo deal with Atlantic.
Atlantic released his debut album, the Rupert Hine-produced Duncan Sheik, in mid-1996, with the single "Barely Breathing" following later in the year. The song reached number 16 on the Hot 100, and after another single, "Reasons for Living," appeared on the soundtrack to the hit TV show ER in late 1996, the debut peaked at number 83 on the Billboard 200. Also produced with Hine, the follow-up, Humming, arrived on Atlantic in 1998 and reached number 163.
Nonesuch issued 2001's self-produced Phantom Moon, a more orchestral collaboration between Sheik and poet/playwright/lyricist Steven Sater, who provided its lyrics. It featured appearances by the London Session Orchestra and guitarist Bill Frisell. Though it failed to reach the Billboard 200, Sheik returned to the chart with his fourth album, 2002's Daylight, which reached number 110. It would be his final release with Atlantic. In 2002, Sheik also composed music for a New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Twelfth Night.
Continuing to split his focus between songwriting and composition, Sheik wrote the film score for the 2004 romantic drama A Home at the End of the World as well as music for the 2005 documentary Through the Fire. He offered up his fifth studio LP, While Limousine, on the Zoë label in 2006. Its insightful lyrics didn't shy away from sociopolitical territory. In the meantime, he had collaborated with Sater on a rock musical based on the 19th century German play Spring Awakening, a story concerned with teenaged sexuality. With a book and lyrics by Sater and music by Sheik, Spring Awakening opened off-Broadway in May 2006 before moving to Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre in December of that year. The show ran for over two years and took home eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. The Decca-issued cast album won a Grammy for Sheik and Sater.
Sheik composed the scores for projects including the Mary Stuart Masterson-directed film The Cake Eaters (2007) and the animated TV movie Little Spirit: Christmas in New York (2008) before presenting his next pop album, 2009's Whisper House. Featuring several duets with Holly Brook (Skylar Grey), the RCA Victor release spent a week at the number 181 spot on the Billboard 200. He scored the movie dramas Dare (2009) and Harvest (2010), then returned in 2011 with the covers album Covers 80s, which included backing vocals by Rachael Yamagata and Brook. Covers 80s Remixed appeared in 2012.
Next up for Sheik was a musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho featuring a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and music, lyrics, and orchestrations all by Sheik. It opened in London in 2013. He released another solo album, a song cycle titled Legerdemain (2015), and premiered the musical thriller Noir (2015) at Vassar College before American Psycho had its Broadway premiere in March 2016. The original London cast recording arrived on Concord Records the same month. Based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, another Sheik-Sater musical collaboration, Alice by Heart, opened off-Broadway in early 2019. The original cast recording was released by Ghostlight later in the year. 2019 also saw the off-Broadway opening of the musical The Secret Life of Bees, featuring music by Sheik and lyrics by Tony nominee Susan Birkenhead (Working, Jelly's Last Jam).
His first concert album, Live at the Cafe Carlyle, followed on Sneaky Studios/Missing Piece in late 2020. Compiled from a week of shows in October 2017, its set list spanned "Barely Breathing," songs from Spring Awakening, and previously unreleased covers of Radiohead and Tom Petty. An HBO documentary about the 15th anniversary concert of the hit musical, Spring Awakening: Those You've Known, premiered in May 2022 and was followed in June by Claptrap, Sheik's first solo studio album in seven years. It arrived on the New York-based Antifragile Music label.
Biography by Marcy Donelson
Days Go By
Duncan Sheik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To be this hopeful, well laugh away
I didn't think it was possible
To be grateful, anyway
I know it's not sensible
To be this passionate, everyday
Days go by
More than you'd ever expect
It's been a long while
Since it's been o.k.
To feel this way
In the volumes of history
Have you ever seen anything, so pure
In the wildest mythology
Were the gods and goddesses, ever so in love
In your own experience
Have you ever known tenderness, like this
Days go by
I catch myself smile
More than you´d ever expect
It's been a long while
Since it's been o.k.
To feel this way
These are the most precious
Of all my days
In the lyrics to the song "Days Go By," Duncan Sheik speaks about the feeling of hopefulness and thankfulness, even when it may not be the norm or the most sensible thing to do. The first stanza of the song speaks to the idea that it may not be fashionable to carry such emotions, but the singer continues to do so anyway, finding joy and gratitude in everyday life. The second stanza of the song asks the listener to reflect on their own experiences and question whether they have ever known a love or tenderness so pure as what the singer seems to feel. The chorus repeats throughout the song, with the singer discussing how they catch themselves smiling more than expected, and how it has been a long time since feeling this way has been okay.
The interpretation of these lyrics could simply be that the singer is enjoying a particularly happy time in their life, feeling grateful and passionate about their experiences. However, the lyrics also hint at a bit of a rebellion against societal norms - the idea that being hopeful, grateful, and passionate is not fashionable or sensible. It could be seen as a call to embrace these emotions and celebrate them, even when they don't seem to fit in with the expectations of society. Additionally, the lyrics seem to suggest that the feeling of tenderness and love that the singer is experiencing is rare and precious, making it all the more important to celebrate and hold onto.
Line by Line Meaning
I know it's not fashionable
To be this hopeful, well laugh away
I am aware that it's not trendy to be hopeful and optimistic, so I just laugh it off.
I didn't think it was possible
To be grateful, anyway
Although I didn't think it was achievable, I still try to be thankful and appreciative.
I know it's not sensible
To be this passionate, everyday
I am aware that it may not be reasonable to be very passionate every day, but I can't help it.
Days go by
I catch myself smile
More than you'd ever expect
It's been a long while
Since it's been o.k.
To feel this way
As time passes, I notice that I'm smiling more than anyone would think. It's been a while since it's been acceptable for me to feel this happy.
In the volumes of history
Have you ever seen anything, so pure
In the wildest mythology
Were the gods and goddesses, ever so in love
In your own experience
Have you ever known tenderness, like this
Throughout history, have you ever come across something so purely wonderful? Even in the most imaginative myths, were the deities ever so devoted? In your personal encounters, have you ever experienced tenderness like this?
These are the most precious
Of all my days
These are the most valuable and treasured days of my life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DUNCAN SHEIK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind