Growing up in the 90s, I was entranced by this song every time it came up on the radio. There’s something about his voice and timbre that made it sound robotic when his vocals blend together and the chorus just hits. Just hearing it again after hearing of his tragic passing last week was a blast from the past. If one wants to hear what the top radio hits were like in the 90s, this is a great pop song to jam to. We’ve lost a good one indeed.
The song is about the envy of a man manifested from this woman that he has been chasing. With these easy going guitars and those vocals that make the 90s, the character’s jealousy is self aware, since he knew this was a lost cause and all it gave back was hurt. He’s upset at her, but didn’t make himself on unlikable ground. This was a beautiful, relatable song about unrequited love. Definitely much more relatable if you were a naive lovesick teen back then. It was absolutely suffocating for this character. So, of course you wanted to root for the underdog. And Sheik killed that part. He played a great hopeless romantic here, and on “On a High”, another tremendous hit that charted in the early 2000s that I also recommend. He’s the hero in these songs we cheer for despite these hurdles, just to get eye level to that happiness. A man can dream.
“Barely Breathing” found huge success and was on the Billboard Hot 100 for 55 consecutive weeks. He got a spotlight on David Letterman’s show and has done prolific work with many more albums afterwards. He struggled and survived a battle with alcoholism. His passion was composing and film scores, so he went on to do work at theater and soundtracks, which later got him awards after much hard work. But he also found that love of his life and they later had a child. Sheik is survived by his wife and seven year old daughter.
So, this tragic passing at first glance may seem like a part of my childhood and teens have died, but it got me transported back to the past as I replay “Barely Breathing” again after the terrible news. Moments like that are so rare and surreal. I’m going to have to revisit his works again. We’ve been told by older generations that when their idols die more frequently, it’s just a sign that we’re getting older. Sorry, if that didn’t help you find solace, but I hope you find this song at least. Or would I be a fool for another day?
RIP Duncan Sheik
His discography is available for streaming. Links down below.
[Apple Music]﹡[TIDAL]
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