This breakup song was a surprise breakthrough hit for Duncan Sheik, who accompanied artists like Lisa Loeb and His Boy Elroy before releasing his self-titled debut in 1996. Not only did the track peak at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it stayed on the chart for a record 55 consecutive weeks. It also hit #2 on the Adult Top 40, #10 on the Mainstream Top 40 and #19 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Sheik is singing from the perspective of a guy who has finally woken up and realized his girlfriend's manipulative displays of emotion do not equal love. He berates himself for being so naive ("Well it must have been that yesterday was the day that I was born") but knows he has to leave before he suffocates: 'Cause I am barely breathing And I can't find the air I don't know who I'm kidding Imagining you care
"Barely Breathing" found a home on radio stations across a range of formats. It wasn't a song you would crank up when it came on, but you wouldn't change the station either, so it stayed on playlists a very long time. The song won a BMI award as the Most Played Song of the Year in 1997.
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