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
Hymn
Duncan Sheik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the sheltering sky
All this earth and she and I
Wait until it happens
Wait, the moment will come
Wait, but all those are already one
How many sunrises
Will we watch from start to finish
How many will we witness?
And my answers
Are only ever surmises
Maybe a handful of times
Before the next life
Here, we stop beneath the leaves
Here, a moment to stay
Here, a gift of pale green color
Here above her
And she asks me
How many sunrises
Will we watch from start to finish
How many will we witness?
And my answers
Are only ever surmises
Maybe a handful of times
Before the next life
A kiss, a prayer, a laugh, a song
She won't try to tell me what's right from wrong
A song, a laugh, a prayer, a kiss
She won't try to tell me I need more than this
All my answers
And all my surmises
Will never do it justice
She'll just have to trust it
We'll wait here
Until the sun rises
We'll watch from start to finish
With no one as our witness
The lyrics to Duncan Sheik's song Hymn tell the story of two people who are reveling in the beauty and simplicity of life. From the storms and oceans to the sheltering sky, the world around them is full of wonder and beauty. The pair stop for a moment to take in the stunning greenery above them, and the woman asks the man how many sunrises they will watch together before the end of their lives. The man can only guess a handful of times, and they both know that their time together is limited.
However, their time is not marred by fear or regret. The woman does not try to tell the man what is right or wrong, and the two are content with the simple things in life. A kiss, a prayer, a laugh, and a song are all they need to be happy, and they will wait for the sun to rise over them again and again until they are no longer able to witness it, with no one else as their witness either.
The lyrics of Hymn are a tribute to the beauty of life and the simplicity of love. Rather than worrying about the future or regretting the past, the song tells us to enjoy the present moment and the small things in life that bring us joy. We should appreciate the natural world around us and the people that we love, for they are the true treasures in life.
Line by Line Meaning
All the storms and oceans
Everything that is vast and powerful
All the sheltering sky
The protective force that encompasses us
All this earth and she and I
The totality of our existence
Wait until it happens
Anticipation of a moment to come
Wait, the moment will come
Trust that it will happen in due time
Wait, but all those are already one
Recognition that everything is connected
And she asks me
Engaging in a dialogue
How many sunrises
Questioning the finite nature of life
Will we watch from start to finish
Observing the passing of time
How many will we witness?
Inquiring about the number of experiences in life
And my answers
Response to the inquiry
Are only ever surmises
Admitting that knowledge is limited
Maybe a handful of times
Speculating on the number of experiences
Before the next life
Accepting the inevitability of mortality
Here, we stop beneath the leaves
Pausing to appreciate nature
Here, a moment to stay
Finding peace in the present moment
Here, a gift of pale green color
Celebrating the beauty of the natural world
Here above her
In her presence
A kiss, a prayer, a laugh, a song
Embracing the joys of life
She won't try to tell me what's right from wrong
Trusting in personal intuition
A song, a laugh, a prayer, a kiss
Repeating the moments of joy in life
She won't try to tell me I need more than this
Contentment with what is already present
All my answers
The sum of my knowledge
And all my surmises
Speculations based on observations
Will never do it justice
Acknowledging limitations in understanding
She'll just have to trust it
Leaving the understanding to intuition
We'll wait here
Staying in the moment
Until the sun rises
Savoring the passage of time
We'll watch from start to finish
Completing the cycle of the day
With no one as our witness
Finding joy in personal moments
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DUNCAN SHEIK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind