anonymous October 9th, 2009 09:23AM  
This song is about wanting to slow time so to speak. And to have more of it. That's why he wants to believe the earth turns slowly. "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep" implies he obviously should sleep but truthfully doesn't want to miss out on anything. It is definitely about childhood innocence and dreams, and also stopping to enjoy the small things. Just as a child in awe would "Cause I get a thousand hugs From ten thousand lightning bugs As they try to teach me how to dance A foxtrot above my head, A sock hop beneath my bed, A disco ball is just hanging by a thread (thread, thread)" Learning to "dance" would be an example of a sipmle pleasure. A foxtrot, a sock hop, disco balls- these things are all associated with times when there was more innocence, or happiness so to speak. "To ten million fireflies I'm weird 'cause I hate good-byes I got misty eyes as they said farewell (they said farewell) But I'll know where several are If my dreams get real bizarre 'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar(jar, jar, jar)" This line is definitely a good example of clinging to areas of childhood as well. He's "saved a few and kept them in a jar" in case things get to "bizarre" as if to remind him of a simpler time. A time when things were beautiful. The lines about not sleeping and bizarre dreams could be symbolic to this face paced adult world being a bit of a nightmare and hence he has recreated his simplistic childhood as his reality. I think those are the moments he wants to slow- the simple ones, the beautiful ones- whether they are from childhood or just a simpler time. You can tell from the type of music used in their songs as well, it has a light feel to it. As if it's going to lift you off your feet and take you to a better place. It's not sure exactly what this particular song means but it's certainly evident the directions it points in and what it implies.

anonymous October 11th, 2009 01:36PM  
The song is basically about a grown man who wishes that he could go back to childhood innocence, which is why in his video he has a roomful of toys. "That planet earth turns slowly..." means that to him time is moving way too fast for simple things like catching fireflies. When he says that he doesn't want to fall asleep basically is saying that he wishes he cold stay up so that he can live life to the fullest and fill each day with childlike things, such as playing with toys and/or catching fireflies.

Samra November 12th, 2009 08:34PM  
I agree with previous posts of an adult wanting to hold on to child like innocence, simpleness. I can understand the feeling of wanting to exscape this chaotic world. Children have little worry and responsibility. I just wanted to add that at the end he says, "... because my dreams are bursting at the seams." Its like he's got so many unfulfilled dreams that they are "bursting" or all falling apart. Kinda sad, and frustrating.

anonymous November 16th, 2009 05:45PM  
I agree with all of this except for those of you who said he doesn't want to sleep and he wants to stay up and live life to the fullest. That's not what he says. He says, "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep, 'cause everything is never as it seems.": Implying he'd rather sleep and stay in this nostalgic dreamland. ~Ace

anonymous November 22nd, 2009 07:38PM  
It's about the magic the world has to offer. When you go to sleep, maybe you are missing out on the beauty of nature, or something along those lines. When he says "it's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep," it means he would rather be staying asleep because he doesn't want to wake up to what reality is. He wishes that he could see the magic in the world again!

anonymous November 23rd, 2009 08:06PM  
I agree. The song seems so complex once you really thing about it, though the concept itself is simple. The lyrics do appear to depict the fact that childhood and all of its wonderful innocence is lost to quickly and that we should indeed hold on to the simplicity of childhood things such as finding magic and entertainment out of catching fireflies.

anonymous November 26th, 2009 11:15AM  
At first listening, I didn't quite capture the message behind the lyrics itself. I can't stand to think the "Fireflies" is something else, something that illuminates the night, and my guess would be, People. "Cause they'd fill the open air And leave teardrops everywhere You'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare" That verse kind of goes along with my hypothesis, because people are everywhere, and people are happy, or in this case sad. "I'd like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'Cause everything is never as it seems" The chorus states that Earth spins much too fast, thus making time faster. In conclusion I would think this song states a very deep message on how Fireflies (people) are so vulnerable and how they live very little time.

anonymous December 1st, 2009 12:14AM  
fireflies is about Adam's daydreams because of his sleepless nights. "leave my door open just a crack, I feel like such an INSOMNIAC, why do I tire of counting sheep when I'm far to tired to fall asleep hence his sleeping disorder. He thinks of his insomniac as a gift rather than a curse because that is when he is most creative in his music and if he is asleep he might miss something "It's hard to say I rather stay awake when I'm asleep cause everything is never as it seems" . A lot of his music when he talks about sleeping and sleeping pills he is talking about his disorder

anonymous December 1st, 2009 09:31AM  
i think its about missing childhood of a person.... You would not believe your eyes If ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep.. this might say that you would not believe that, as a grown adult, childhood (fireflies) are still there lighting up the sky or feeling and innocentness. .... You'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare ... When I fall asleep leave my door open just a crack ... Please take me away from here ...'Cause I feel like such an insomniac. these lines suggest that if he falls asleep, we would want to feel that childhood feeling again. opened the door just a crack so that he could "see" his childhood again. please take me away from here 'Cause I feel like such an insomniac. he really wants to feel that child feeling again. To ten million fireflies I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes I got misty eyes as they said farewell But I'll know where several are If my dreams get real bizarre 'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar The author says that he does not like to let go of these feelings of being a child again, being carefree etc. He got misty eyes as they said farewell, this suggest that his eye sight got blurry when it comes to reminiscing about his childhood. but he still knows some of his memories because he save few in a jar. Because my dreams are bursting at the seams this suggest that he has unfulfilled dreams when he was a kid that are itching to be fulfilled.

anonymous December 2nd, 2009 08:28AM  
The post about his day dreams and his sleep disorder is right on. You try being in a state of constant awakeness but being tired from not sleeping then take some meds to help you sleep and you'll understand where hes comeing from. a state of mind that intrigues me very much. i think this is why i like the song so much.

anonymous December 20th, 2009 08:06AM  
i think that he in this song he is trying to go back to a childhood thaat got away from him, he hows this by saything that he would like to make himself belive the planet turns slowly but with a slight sarcastic tone suggesting he that the world spins to fast making time just slip away. he talks about the fireflies leaving tear drops every where and if he saw it he would just stop and stare, so maybe he is remembering a traumatic chidhood. because he speaks like his dreams escape reality for him and that his childhood slipt away. another thing is the 10 thousound lightning bugs needing to hug him and teach him to dance becuase he had no one else and saying nothing is as it seems when he is awake saying his life is not like the other kids, his is differnt.He also mentions being wanted to be taken away because he is starting to turn into an insomniac because he could be could be scared of something in the house. so i think the happy bumbly tone and melody is very misleading and the song is about a much deeper situation when he was younger

anonymous December 21st, 2009 08:49PM  
I think he made it to confuse all of you people, so he could read your blogs and laugh..

anonymous December 27th, 2009 05:01PM  
You all are forgetting about "To 10 million fireflies, I'm weird 'cuz I hate goodbyes, I got misty eyes as they said farewell; But I'll know where several are, if my dreams get real bizarre; because I saved a few and I kept them in a jar" I think this means, that like many of us, we are sometimes sad that time goes so quickly and we lose our childhood. But Adam Young still has fireflies- "I saved a few and I kept them in a jar" or memories- of his childhood, and whenever he wants to go back to his childhood innocence, he looks there :D

anonymous January 8th, 2010 05:21PM  
There is a particular line that has intrigued me, "Its hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep, because my dreams are bursting at the seems", in conjunction with the previous interpretations this final line implies that his dreams have become nightmarish due to the worries, stress and responsibilities affecting sleep patterns. I also could not help but notice in the video clip of this song that, as the song progressed that the editing style of becomes more erratic and chaotic, which to me suggest that the majority is correct in interpretation of the song.

HolaAPElkChocoPizza January 22nd, 2010 09:43PM  
I believe everyone's a little right, but it's very scattered.
"you would not believe you eyes, if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep" HE falls asleep, meaning he IS dreaming the fireflies.
Cause they fill the open air, and leave teardrops everywhere, you'd think me rude but I would just stand and stare" the fireflies are MEMORIES of his CHILDHOOD, and leaving teardrops everywhere because he misses it and wants to go back. As for "rude" I consider it a very childish word, cause when you're a kid a lot of things are rude according to the olders and kids actually have a stronger sense of being rude or not before doing something than grown-ups. He stops and stares because he doesn't know what to do with so many memories.
I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly" the earth does turn slowly, but he's not being literal, think about the earth as a clock, for him the clock's walking too fast, so he wants to pretend the clock's got some flaw (or w/e) and is walking slower.
then the next verse about dancing is just an example of one of the many things (from his childhood) that he gets to do while sleeping. Then "the disco ball is just hanging by a thread" the disco ball being about to fall means that the dream's coming to an end much too son for his liking.
please leve my door open just a crack" reminiscing the old childish fear for the dark "please take me away from here" he's desperately begging to fall asleep cause he wants to dream with the fireflies again "why do I tire of counting sheep when I'm far too tired to fall asleep?" he's frustrated that he tries to go back to his childhood when he know's he can't.
then he's weird to the fireflies because he doesn't want to go back to the real world, and they're leaving which means the dream is ending, he "gets misty eyes when they say farewell" because he's acting like a kid again and he just can't understand why they have to go.
But I know where several are" he says it like they're different from one another, like he knows them personally and can pick them from all the others, this represents his dearest memories, the ones that give him strenght when "his dreams get real bizarre" (life's difficult).
then again, the fireflies (in my mind I keep thinking "butterflies"), besides being pretty and having a lot of them, are a personalised example of something you just loved in your childhood (I would've used ladybugs, I used to search trees for them, though my dad once caught a firefly for me.. yet now I like butterflies better even when I never had any kind of contact with them... guess ladybugs sadden me cause I can't look for them anymore... Sorry for rambling)
anyways, that's my interpretation.

anonymous January 27th, 2010 05:19PM  
The song uses insomnia (which the author had ) as metaphor for contradiction but in essence it is what insomnia is -- tired but can't sleep. The song ponders the loss of innocence to deception and contradiction. The lyrics "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'cause everything is never as it seems", the author is challenging people to be honest, ie you tell people you would rather be awake -- meanwhile you are fast asleep. Stop telling people what they want to hear, and start doing what you say - "Cause everything is never as it seems" The author is tired of reading through all the deception . "Tired of Counting sheep" is tired of sorting through what is truth and what is not. But to sleep is to just let it slip by you , don't care. (which is why he wants to be taken away to a place to back innocence) . Also, deception is such a part of our culture now that even when you are truthful people don't believe you ("You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep " ) At times it almost easier or wishful thinking to believe the deception than to fight it, "I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly". The author longs for a time back to innocence ie kids just tell it like it is without spin "A foxtrot above my head, A sock hop beneath my bed, a disco ball is just hanging by a thread "- foxtrot and sock hop represent innocence, a disco ball - does not, hence almost gone. But reality sets in, you can't change all this, but if it all gets too out of hand you have a few truths you hold on to. " To ten million fireflies I'm weird 'cause I hate good-byes I got misty eyes as they said farewell but I know where several are, if my dreams get real bizarre cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar."

anonymous February 26th, 2010 12:50AM  
Critics call his sound, electro – pop. In the language of Fireflies aficionados, the song was simply a breath of fresh air. Yet, what’s the real story behind this phenomenal song that was initially loved only by the underground, taste making public? In a recent interview, Adam Young told the story behind his hit fireflies, “…I planned a weekend out camping because there was going to be a meteor shower that night and so I remember lying on my back, looking up at the sky and seeing these shooting stars and thinking how much they abstractly resemble fireflies and I thought, what a cool idea that would be to translate that whole vibe, mood and feeling into music…”

anonymous February 27th, 2010 02:58PM  
He wrote most his songs when he was suffering from insomnia.

anonymous February 28th, 2010 04:33AM  
he was on drugs... its definitely a druggie song. "The world turns slowly" represents time slowing down, and hugging lightning bugs is obviously a reference to halluncinations experienced.

anonymous March 1st, 2010 03:56PM  
The song is really about nations and nuclear war. Every firefly represents a atomic bomb and nations have to get ride of them but they don't (kept a few and il keep them in a jar) I heard it from the man himself.