3 Songs That Display the Sophisticated Alt-Pop of Duncan Sheik

You may remember Duncan Sheik for his 90s alt-pop hit “Barely Breathing”. But following his early success as a singer-songwriter, Sheik retreated to Broadway and eventually won two Tony Awards for composing Spring Awakening, the coming-of-age rock musical with lyrics and book by Steven Sater.

However, evidence of Sheik’s broad range appeared on his earliest albums. So let’s revisit three songs that display the late composer’s sophisticated pop.

“Barely Breathing”

Sheik’s signature song felt different from other alt-pop hits that landed around the same time. The jangly guitars recall late 80s college radio, though one steadied by the bass groove of session ace Pino Palladino. But instead of angsty dorm-room tunes, Sheik’s grammar and enunciation show the results of a semiotics-studying guitarist at Brown. “Barely Breathing” became his biggest hit as an artist, and foreshadows his Tony Award-winning musical scores.

I know what you’re doing, I see it all too clear,
I only taste the saline when I kiss away your tears.
You really had me going, wishing on a star,
But the black holes that surround you are heavier by far.

“She Runs Away”

In hindsight, Sheik’s songwriting always felt theatrical, compared to his contemporaries like Tonic, Toad The Wet Sprocket, and others. And when he arrived on the scene, the media saw him as a heartthrob singer-songwriter. Unlike the grunge bands before him, Sheik’s audience had more women than dudes in it, but the sex-symbol tag was always something he seemed deeply uncomfortable with. Beyond the glossy production of his debut, Sheik’s songs straddled the line between higher aspiration and pop radio.

I mystified the simple life,
I covered up with consciousness.
I saw myself and broke it down,
Till nothing more was left.

“Rubbed Out”

Sheik’s subsequent LPs didn’t achieve the same commercial success as his debut. But on his second album, Humming, you can hear the arrangements becoming more ambitious. It’s the opposite of what you’d expect from an artist with a hit debut. Instead of creating a kind of hit-making formula from the chart success of “Barely Breathing”, Sheik opted for loftier goals. With lush orchestral arrangements, he expanded the scope of his acoustic songs, which gave him a second creative chapter on Broadway and in film.

Something about hotel rooms and horses,
And losing all her friends,
And hearing all their voices.

Sheik died on September 17, 2026, in New York City. He was 56.

Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images