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
November
Duncan Sheik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some certainly
The seasons we remember
The light of May, and darkest days
The month we call, November
To leave behind
The wasted time
And every bad decision
And harder still
Some force of will
To feel we are forgiven
But something stays
So who am I to say
There's nothing more between us
And I don't know the reasons
Nothing clear
Ive come to no conclusions
Said and done
Is it all said and done?
So here we are
Not very far
From when we said
Forever
And all we have
This restless past
The month we call
November
The song November by Duncan Sheik is an introspective reflection on the past, particularly on the month of November. The lyrics suggest that November is a symbol of the seasons we remember and the light of both the brightest and the darkest days. November is a time to leave behind wasted time and every bad decision made during the year. It is the month when the past haunts us, and it is harder still to forgive ourselves and others. However, despite the difficulties of letting go of the past, the singer acknowledges that there may be something more between them and the person they are addressing.
The lyrics suggest that the singer is trying to grapple with why things ended and struggles to come to any firm conclusion about it. The line "So here we are, not very far from when we said forever" suggests that the singer may be experiencing nostalgia for the past and regrets about the end of the relationship. Despite the difficulties of letting go, the singer acknowledges that all they have is the restless past, represented by November.
In conclusion, the song November by Duncan Sheik is a poignant reflection on the passing of time and the difficulties of letting go of the past, particularly in regards to relationships. The song's lyrics suggest that November is a time to confront past mistakes, seek forgiveness, and ultimately acknowledge the uncertainties and complexities of life.
Line by Line Meaning
The past we seek
We have a deep desire to revisit and reflect on our past experiences.
Some certainly
There are some events and memories from our past that we are certain of.
The seasons we remember
We often remember different seasons of the year, which were significant to us in some way.
The light of May, and darkest days
We remember the brightest moments and the darkest moments of the seasons, such as May and November.
The month we call, November
November is a specific month that carries a particular significance to us, either pleasant or painful.
To leave behind
We desire to move on from the past and to leave all the pain and heartache behind.
The wasted time
There are times in the past that were unproductive, meaningless, and a waste of our time.
And every bad decision
We reflect on the choices we made in the past, many of which were not good ones.
And harder still
It is even more difficult to move on from the things we did wrong in the past, forgive ourselves, and ask for forgiveness from others.
Some force of will
It requires a tremendous amount of courage, strength, and determination to move on from our past mistakes and failures.
To feel we are forgiven
We want to be free of guilt and shame that often comes with making mistakes, and to be forgiven by those we have hurt.
But something stays
Despite our best efforts to move on, there are some things that still linger in our minds and hearts from the past.
So who am I to say
It is not my place to judge whether or not someone has truly moved on from their past.
There's nothing more between us
Sometimes, it feels like there is nothing left between two people who have grown apart, and it is difficult to reconcile the past.
And I don't know the reasons
I am not sure why things turned out the way they did between us, and I may never know.
Nothing clear
The reasons behind the past events and conflicts are still unclear and opaque to me.
Ive come to no conclusions
I have not been able to arrive at any definite conclusions based on the past.
Said and done
Everything that needed to be said and done in the past has been done, and there is not much to say or do now.
Is it all said and done?
Have we truly left our past behind, or is there still more to say and do to reconcile and make amends?
So here we are
Despite all our efforts to move on, we are still here, stuck in the same place, dealing with our past.
Not very far
We have not been able to move ahead far enough to leave the past completely behind us.
From when we said
All the way back to the time when we promised each other something or made some kind of commitment.
Forever
The promise that we made to each other about being together forever, which was eventually broken.
And all we have
The only thing that we have left now is the past, which continues to haunt us.
This restless past
The past continues to be a source of restlessness and anxiety for us, preventing us from moving on.
The month we call
November will always be that month that reminds us of our past and all the pain and heartache that came with it.
November
November, as symbolized by this song, represents the past, which is difficult to leave behind, and continues to haunt us even in the present.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DUNCAN SHEIK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind