Establishing himself in the mid-'90s as a singer/songwriter with a knack fo… Read Full Bio ↴Establishing himself in the mid-'90s as a singer/songwriter with a knack for literate adult pop songs with hazy surfaces and a touch of alt-rock grit, Duncan Sheik had a Top 20 hit with the song "Barely Breathing" from his 1996 eponymous debut. He had three more albums land on the Billboard 200 by the end of the next decade, including his fourth full-length, 2002's Daylight. Featuring intricate production and multiple overdubs, it was co-produced with frequent Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard. After scoring his first feature-length film, 2004's A Home at the End of the World, Sheik's career turned toward Broadway with the success of 2006's Spring Awakening, a hit rock musical. It won him the Tony for Best Original Score as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album, both with lyricist Steven Sater. Sheik continued to juggle adult-alternative albums, film scores, and musical theater in the years to follow, issuing his eighth solo album, the ranging, over-hour-long Legerdemain, in 2015 and moving his musical American Psycho to Broadway in 2016. For that show, Sheik served as composer, lyricist, and orchestrator. Following off-Broadway excursions including 2019's The Secret Life of Bees, he issued the studio album Claptrap in 2022. It sought out a more positive state of mind.

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

Shopping
Duncan Sheik Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So you wrote me a letter which I thought was really kind
I don't recall which song it was but there was one you really liked
And you asked me, so innocently, of my inspiration
Why I write the songs I sing, the reasons why I make them

Well, nothing here is what it seems
I'll risk the wreckage of your dreams
It's so that you are always shopping

To steal away the cash you're dropping
Listen to me when I say
Your fantasies are built to fade
So there you are, you're always shopping
Don't even try, there is no stopping

Don't misunderstand me, it always makes me smile
When I can serenade you as you're rollin' down the aisles
On this journey of your souls desire, the paradise of goods
You're doing just exactly what I think you should

Well, nothing here is what it seems
I'll risk the wreckage of your dreams
It's so that you are always shopping
So while you roll you're really rocking

Listen to me when I say
Your fantasies are built to fade
So there you are, you're always wanting
What you don't have it always haunting

There's still one more thing I have to say - my confession's not complete
I've made it sound as if all this has nothing to do with me
There surely is not anything further from the truth
When I have pretty things to gain and only useless things to lose

I wish there were another way
But I must keep the wolves at bay
I hope that you don't find it shocking
Rock and Roll is built on shopping

If you're searching for my soul
Come check out my chains of gold
Grab your purse and let's go shopping
For lingerie and silky stockings

Let's go shopping together
So that we can find ourselves
So that we can buy our selves

Let's go shopping together
Cause we are always by ourselves
Cause we are always by ourselves

Let's go shopping together
So that we can find ourselves

Overall Meaning

The song "Shopping" by Duncan Sheik is a commentary on the role that consumerism plays in modern society. The first verse begins with the singer receiving a letter from a fan who asks him about his inspiration for his music. The singer responds by stating that everything is not as it seems and that he is alone responsible for his motivations. He goes on to explain that the reason people are always shopping is that they are searching for something that will make them happy. However, this search is futile as their fantasies are destined to fade and they will always be left wanting.

In the second verse, the singer admits that he too is caught up in the cycle of consumerism. He has pretty things to gain and only useless things to lose. He wishes there were another way but he must keep the wolves at bay. The wolves in this case refer to the pressures of the music industry, which requires him to constantly produce new material and make commercial decisions that will ensure his financial success. He ultimately concludes that rock and roll is built on shopping.

The chorus of the song reinforces the idea that we are all alone in our search for happiness and that we are constantly searching for something that is just out of reach. By going shopping together, the singer suggests that we can find ourselves and hopefully find what we are looking for.

Line by Line Meaning

So you wrote me a letter which I thought was really kind
I received your letter and I appreciated it

I don't recall which song it was but there was one you really liked
You enjoyed one of my songs, but I don't remember which one you're referring to

And you asked me, so innocently, of my inspiration
You asked me where I get my ideas from, in a very pure and innocent way

Why I write the songs I sing, the reasons why I make them
You wanted to know why I create the music that I do

Well, nothing here is what it seems
Everything is not as it appears

I'll risk the wreckage of your dreams
I'm willing to risk shattering the image you have of me

It's so that you are always shopping
I create music to make you want to constantly buy things

To steal away the cash you're dropping
I'm motivated to make money by taking the cash you spend

Listen to me when I say
Pay attention to my words

Your fantasies are built to fade
Your dreams and desires will eventually disappear

So there you are, you're always shopping
You're always purchasing new things to try to satisfy your desires

Don't even try, there is no stopping
You can't resist the urge to go shopping

Don't misunderstand me, it always makes me smile
I'm not trying to deceive you, and the fact that you keep shopping despite this makes me happy

When I can serenade you as you're rollin' down the aisles
I enjoy that my music is playing in the background as you shop

On this journey of your souls desire, the paradise of goods
As you shop, you embark on a journey to find items that will satisfy your innermost desires

You're doing just exactly what I think you should
You're fulfilling my expectations by using shopping to try to fill the void in your life

There's still one more thing I have to say - my confession's not complete
I have one more thing to admit, I haven't been completely honest with you

I've made it sound as if all this has nothing to do with me
I implied that my music doesn't have anything to do with my desire for wealth and material possessions

There surely is not anything further from the truth
That is completely false

When I have pretty things to gain and only useless things to lose
I'm motivated to create music because I have something to gain from it, and nothing to lose

I wish there were another way
I would prefer to make music without focusing on material gain

But I must keep the wolves at bay
I have to fend off those who might try to take advantage of me

I hope that you don't find it shocking
I'm worried that you might be surprised by my admission

Rock and Roll is built on shopping
The music industry is fueled by people buying music and merchandise

If you're searching for my soul
If you want to understand who I am as a person

Come check out my chains of gold
Look at my possessions - my jewelry, my money - to get a sense of who I am

Grab your purse and let's go shopping
We should go shopping together to try and find what we're both looking for

For lingerie and silky stockings
We're looking for something sexy to wear

Let's go shopping together
We should explore together

So that we can find ourselves
In order to figure out who we are

Cause we are always by ourselves
We're always searching for answers and support on our own

Let's go shopping together
We should spend time together