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
Home
Duncan Sheik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But when I'm without you, it's just not the same
Don't misunderstand me, I' feeling alright
But when I'm without you the day turns into night, into night
You dream of a future, a possible place
Where we lie together face to face
And I'm looking forward
I will not deny
You and I
And then I'm with you
No longer alone
When I'm with you
It feels like I'm home
And you are with me
No longer alone
How could it be?
It feels like I'm home
It feels like I'm home
I look through the darkness into the sky
The moon up above me brilliantly shines
I've never been happier watching it glow
I'm here by myself, but I know I'm not alone
I'm not alone
I look through the brightness into the sky
The sun up above me, splitting out fire
Call me a child, call me naive
The world is much brighter
Than it ever used to be
The lyrics to Duncan Sheik's song "Home" convey a sense of longing and incompleteness without the presence of a loved one. The singer describes feeling okay and alright, but not completely whole, when he is without this person. He dreams of a future together, of lying face to face, and says that he looks forward to it. When he is with this person, he feels like he is home and no longer alone.
The imagery in the song is very powerful, as the singer looks to the moon and the sun for comfort and companionship when he is alone. He describes being "happier" when he watches the moon glow and sees the sun shining brightly. This suggests that the singer finds solace in nature when he is without his loved one, but ultimately he knows that he needs this person beside him to truly feel at home.
Overall, "Home" is a poignant song about the importance of human connection and the sense of belonging that comes with it. The lyrics capture the feeling of missing someone deeply and the joy that comes from being reunited with them.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't get me wrong, I'm feeling O.K.
I am attempting to express that I am feeling satisfactory.
But when I'm without you, it's just not the same
However, when I find myself without your presence, everything seems different.
Don't misunderstand me, I' feeling alright
Please do not take my previous statement the wrong way; I am indeed feeling content.
But when I'm without you the day turns into night, into night
However, when I lack your companionship, time seems to pass much slower.
You dream of a future, a possible place
You have aspirations for the future, in which an anticipated setting would exist.
Where we lie together face to face
Where you and I would lay together in close proximity, with our faces aligned.
And I'm looking forward
For my part, I am excited and optimistic.
I will not deny
I am not inclined to lie or conceal the fact that
I dream of a future made for you and I
I, too, share a dream for a future in which you and I are together in harmony.
And then I'm with you
However, once I am in your presence
No longer alone
I feel that I am no longer by myself
When I'm with you
In your company
It feels like I'm home
I sense a feeling akin to being at home.
And you are with me
Moreover, you are present with me
No longer alone
I no longer feel lonely
How could it be?
I am almost incredulous, as to how this is even possible.
It feels like I'm home
It feels as though I am content, relaxed and comfortable.
I look through the darkness into the sky
When it is dark outside, I contemplate the sky.
The moon up above me brilliantly shines
I observe the moon radiantly shining in the sky above.
I've never been happier watching it glow
I can scarcely recall a moment where I have been more euphoric than I am now, viewing this hypnotic spectacle.
I'm here by myself, but I know I'm not alone
I might be physically solitary, but I am assured that I still have your warm presence and support.
I look through the brightness into the sky
When it is light outside, I gaze at the sky.
The sun up above me, splitting out fire
The sun, emanating scorching heat, shines brilliantly overhead.
Call me a child, call me naive
Although you might view me as immature or gullible
The world is much brighter
I firmly believe the world is much more brilliant
Than it ever used to be
than ever before.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ROSANGLIANA, H. S. LALRUATLIANA, JOSHUA ZORAMLIANA, P. B. LIANMAWIA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind