The album cover for Somewhere in Dreamworld by Midnight Notion. It's a mostly black image with a large, glowing white moon in the center. The moon is rising over a flat, grassy horizon as the black silhouette of a man watches. Above the moon are two menacing white eyes, and beside it are two hands reaching for it.

Sidewalk

Lyrics

My confidence broken
My life is a wreck
My passion is a clog in the drain
I’m overwhelmed by your
Requests and your ignorance
You are the cause of this pain
You use me, abuse me
You lie and confuse me
You crawl in and poison my brain

Chorus

I have become undone
The human sidewalk, oh-oh
Rely on me
But when I fall, just walk by
The path that you tread
Those prints on my head
You’re making a fool out of me
Someday I’ll rise and be free

So useless, dejected
My thoughts get rejected
My patience will soon be all gone
Unwanted, pathetic
Fatigued by your insolence
Somehow I knew all along
You showed me that light
When all hope seemed to die
But your motives are backwards and wrong

(Repeat Chorus x2)

Trivia

“Sidewalk” was written in 2006 while Bryce was attending the (now defunct) Institute of Production and Recording (IPR). It was the first song to be recorded with the intention of producing a full-length album as a solo artist.

When recording the vocals for the final version of the album in 2018, “Sidewalk” was the song Bryce started with.

The original version began with piano and vocals for the first verse, pre-chorus, and chorus before moving into what would later become the coda section of “Reminiscent.” The piano sound was sometimes more acoustic, sometimes more electric, and at one point even an organ, but it was eventually dropped altogether in favor of a traditional rock structure.

While the song was first being written, Bryce was briefly studying Gregorian Chant with the specific intent to open the song with it! The idea never came to fruition.

The lyrics changed sometime in the 2010s to be less…we’ll say “gory.” Here’s how the song used to go:

Lately the memories of what we once had
Are losing their powers so fast
I try to enforce them back into my life
But negativity forgets the past

For what it’s worth, you mean so much
But to go on, I can’t just pretend

Chorus:
I want to bash... my... head...
Into the sidewalk
And watch... the... red...
Drip from my broken skull
Only yesterday, fine, but now where’s my mind?
It seems that I’ve lost it again
Seems that I’ve lost it again...

My confidence, broken, my life is a wreck
My passion is a clog in the drain
I’m overwhelmed by your requests and your ignorance
You are the cause of this pain

’Cause when you’re here, I can’t let go
But when you leave I just need this to end

(chorus)

Extras

“Sidewalk (Trident Mix)” – First known recording at IPR, Minneapolis (April 12, 2006)

Other Songs

  1. Only A Dream
  2. The Lone Wolf
  3. Heartache Collector
  4. Reverie
  5. Last Breath
  6. Hey, Babe
  7. Reminiscent
  8. Sidewalk
  9. We’ve Come So Far
  10. Lovin’ Side of Me
  11. Somewhere in Dreamworld

Releases & Lyrics

A mostly black image with a large, glowing white moon in the center. The moon is rising over a flat, grassy horizon as the black silhouette of a man watches. Above the moon are two menacing white eyes, and beside it are two hands reaching for it. In white text in the top left corner, it reads "Midnight Notion," and white text in the bottom right reads: "Somewhere in Dreamworld."
Somewhere in Dreamworld (2019)
A black and white digital image where the bottom half is all black and the top half is white with a mixture of gray clouds. There are 6 robot-shaped silhouettes marching from left to right, walking on the black bottom half. In the background, there is a looming roman-numerals clock. Large white text reads "March to Midnight," and smaller white text reads: "Midnight Notion."
March to Midnight (2013)
A brown photo album with golden highlights. There is a golden roman-numerals clock in the center, and bold yellow text in the middle of the clock reads "Midnight Notion." Flowy yellow text at the bottom reads: "The Archives: 1-10"
The Archives 1–10 (2008)