"Twilight of My Youth" by Tyler Burkum, Tuesday, February 23, 2021

 

At 17, Tyler Burkum joined one of the most successful Christian Rock bands of the '90s, Audio Adrenaline on their Some Kind of Zombie album cycle. Guitarist, Bob Herdman was getting busy with his venture, Flicker Records (Pillar, Fireflight, Kids in the Way). In addition to the need for a new guitarist, lead singer Mark Stuart's vocal problems were getting worse, often losing his voice on stage. The band needed someone to step in on vocal duties. The band's 2001 album Lift featured songs with Burkum and Stuart sharing vocal duties. The song "Ocean Floor" was the single that introduced Burkum as a prominent member of the band. The band's follow up, Worldwide featured Burkum singing lead on more songs, taking the band in a poppier and CCM-radio friendly direction. But the days of Audio A were numbered. The band called it quits in 2007, mostly due to Stuart's worsening vocal problems. And although the band reunited with Kevin Max on lead vocals, Burkum didn't join this chapter of the band.

SEARCHING THE RUBBLE. Burkum's tenure with Audio Adrenaline was the closest the Minnesotan guitarist would get to fame. After the group disbanded in 2007, Burkum went under the radar. But he certainly didn't get lazy. Even while in Audio Adrenaline, Burkum was working behind the scenes with other musicians in the studio and on the stage. He worked toured with the !Hero Rock Opera Tour, played with Pillar, and recorded on Jennifer Knapp's Lay It Down album. After Audio A, he joined the band Leagues, covered last month, and became a touring guitarist for Mat Kearny, and recorded with NEEDTOBREATHE, Toby Mac, and Andrew Peterson. Burkum hasn't released much solo work, just two albums on Apple Music, released nine years apart. 

A VAIN, VAIN MAN. The last track on 2019's Strange Light, "Twilight of My Youth" strikes me for several reasons. I had a coworker two years ago who was an awful teacher. All he cared about was looking like a teacher--and dressing like a K-pop star. I've seen this before young adults, but this guy was approaching 40. This wouldn't be a problem, except this coworker was ambitious and seemed to be out to take my job. This song also makes me think about Burkum, who seemingly peaked young. What else is there after world tours and large music festivals? Then I think about myself. Am I stagnating? Did I peak too soon in terms of my success at work? Can I strive for something bigger, even though the connections I once had are forgetting me? Like many closing tracks on records, the end refrain of this song, with its lullaby-like piano leaves the listener asking these questions: What am I going to do with the rest of my time? Am I living too much in the past?

https://genius.com/Tyler-burkum-twilight-of-my-youth-lyrics