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
So Gone
Duncan Sheik Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over and over again
Up on the horse was a weak foolish child
Never believed it would end
How many smokes
'Til I'm satisfied?
How many dreams 'til I'm happy?
Will I watch fade away
'Til there is no one to ask me?
I was gone
So gone
Gone so gone
For a while
How many times will I sleep by your side?
Turning and dreaming and scared
A fairground that's shut down
As you ride away
My horse won't go anywhere
I was gone
So gone
Gone so gone
For a while
I was wrong
So wrong
Wrong so wrong
For a while
How many songs will I try to write
All with the same thing to say?
I've got two tickets left
Won't you please stay with me?
The very last ride of the day
The lyrics of Duncan Sheik's song "So Gone" are about the cycles of life, repetition, and getting lost in oneself. The first verse talks about how we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, like being stuck on a merry-go-round. The image of a weak and foolish child on a horse represents how we can become entrapped in our beliefs and routines, never imagining that things will change. The repetition of "how many times" throughout the song emphasizes this theme of cyclical patterns in our lives.
In the chorus, the singer questions their addictions and desires as a way to fill a void within them. They ask how many cigarettes they need to smoke to feel satisfied and how many dreams they must have to feel happy. The line "Til there is no one to ask me" reveals their loneliness and isolation in this journey. The repetition of "gone so gone" shows the extent of their detachment from themselves and the world.
The second verse uses the metaphor of sleeping and dreaming to express the singer's fear of being left alone. They feel like a fairground that's shut down, abandoned and empty after the rides have stopped. Their horse won't go anywhere, depicting their inability to move past their fears and anxieties. The repetition of "for a while" in both the chorus and the second verse hints at the possibility of change and growth over time.
Lastly, the third verse talks about the singer's struggle to express themselves creatively. They wish to write songs but feel like they have nothing new to say, highlighting the recurring patterns of their thoughts and emotions. The line "I've got two tickets left, won't you please stay with me" is like a plea to someone to stay with them through the end of their journey, to help them find meaning and purpose. The mention of "the very last ride of the day" could represent the end of life, and the desire to make it count.
Line by Line Meaning
How many times on this marry-go-round
How many times will I repeat the same mistakes in this cycle of life?
Over and over again
Repeating my past mistakes again and again
Up on the horse was a weak foolish child
I was naive and foolish to believe in false hopes
Never believed it would end
I kept chasing the same old dreams, unaware of their inevitable conclusion
How many smokes
How much distraction do I need to forget my doubts?
'Til I'm satisfied?
When will I feel satisfied and content?
How many dreams 'til I'm happy?
How many dreams should I realize in order to be happy?
How much of the day
How many hours do I waste?
Will I watch fade away
Seeing my life slipping away without any purpose
Til there is no one to ask me?
Until there is no one who cares enough to ask me about my well-being?
I was gone
I was lost and disconnected
So gone
Completely isolated and detached from the world
Gone so gone
Lost beyond any hope of return
For a while
For some time, until something happens to bring me back to reality
How many times will I sleep by your side?
How many times will I rely on someone else to keep me safe and secure?
Turning and dreaming and scared
Feeling fearful and paranoid, unable to sleep peacefully
A fairground that's shut down
Life is empty and devoid of any excitement or joy
As you ride away
As my only source of joy and hope disappears
My horse won't go anywhere
I am stuck in the same place, unable to move forward
I was wrong
I made mistakes that are now haunting me
So wrong
Completely misguided and mistaken
Wrong so wrong
Wrong beyond any chance of redemption
For a while
Until I learn from my mistakes and become wiser
How many songs will I try to write
How many ways can I express the same feelings of emptiness and despair?
All with the same thing to say?
All conveying the same message of hopelessness and desolation?
I've got two tickets left
I have only a few opportunities to try and make things right
Won't you please stay with me?
Please don't leave my side, for I am lost
The very last ride of the day
My last chance to make things right before it's too late
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DUNCAN SHEIK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
LudOwandErlust
I love it ! thanks for uploaded
Camelia
@LudoWander me too!!! you're welcome&thank you!
LudOwandErlust
:) ;)
Frankydankk
jon sucks great vid.