Life in Wheeling, WV is anything but perfect. One of the first history lessons you learn in elementary school here in the Ohio Valley is the importance of the Ohio River; our precious body of water that whinds thru everything, seperating states and niehborhoods, the entrance point of our creeks, the final resting place of hidden murder victims, the illegal dumping site of chemical wastes by so many factories posted up along it's borders. The one thing though, that many of our history teachers failed to tell us is the curse placed upon the waters ages ago.
"Blood River" was the name given to this place by the Cherokee indian tribes that inhabited this area centuries ago. When the white man came to take control of this land, an indian medicine man grew tired of watching his people slaughtered over their own homes and used his powers to place the curse on the river. Two days later, he too was murdered.
You get stuck here. It's hard to explain. So many people have come to visit, and just stayed for no apparent reason. The job market here, quite frankly, sucks. Prolonged exposure to our drinking water and the air in this valley has been known to cause cancer. The one good thing we ever had was our country-side which is continuously being ripped away in exchange for concrete, coal mines, and more factories. But somehow, these people still get stuck.
So what happens when you have a small town, add in the families who never got out of here from decades ago, plus familes who have come and gotten trapped throughout all that time, subtract the jobs and any good source of income, and multiply that by the fact that the ohio valley lies right between Pittsburgh and Columbus - two huge cities defined by drugs - and what does that leave you with? Well, I'll tell you what that leaves you with. It leaves you with Kids Like Us.















We play the games we know we can't win though we continuously try again and again. We're the tragic result of reality. We know where we've gone wrong though we swear we won't die alone. We're running around in circles, trying our best to pull ourselves up out of our holes. We laugh to keep from crying. We hide so no one knows.

We are the shadow kidz.

Maybe our moms were strung out on coke. Maybe our father's couldnt take a joke. Maybe we're talented but too blind to see. Maybe no one cared and we were raised by TV. Either way, we're battered, hurt, and pissed.

We are the Shadow Kidz.

We cut and bleed to remember we are alive. Unconsious thru the day, living thru crazy nights. We're stuck painting pictures where the colors disappear wishing things could still be clear. Now we've become the people we feared.

We are the Shadow Kidz.

Waking up is hard to do when nobody loves you. Stuck searching for a family who never really cared anyway. So we rely on one another to get from day to day. Besides who was there when you first tried X? When everyone turned their backs - who was left? Who taught you about bongs, smack and blow? When you stole your parents car - where did you go? and when you got caught, who did you blame? When they got the keys, who did the same? When you overdosed who rushed to get help? And who carried you to a bed when you were passed out?

We are the Shadow Kidz.

Well we know we can't stay forever young so we sit back and wait for the best to come undone.

We are the Shadow Kidz...