Owl City: Fireflies Meaning
Song Released: 2009
Fireflies Lyrics
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep
Cause they fill the open air,
And leave teardrops everywhere,you'd think me rude but I would just stand, and stare
I'd like to make myself...
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It seems pretty simple to interpret. He likes it when he is asleep because he loves getting away from the world (the please take me away from here part and the its hard to say id rather stay awake when im asleep) and get back to the fantasy life that everyone wishes they could live forever. He wishes his dreams could last longer (earth turns slowly=night would be longer=longer dreams) but when he has to wake up, he has to leave those dreams (misty eyes as they waved farewell) and yet he keeps them with him through his life to keep him upbeat (keeps them in a jar). and at the end the dreams bursting at the seams part goes perfectly with the last thing he said:
its hard to say i'd rather stay awake when im asleep because my dreams are bursting at the seams
its hard to say he would like to stay awake when he is asleep because he likes to be in those dreams he sings about, and he doesnt want to be awake because he has millions of dreams ready to burst out.
I dont know if the song is entirely based on something that simple, or if its something more deep down like his real life dreams, but that seems like the interpretation. -
Look. We all try to derive meanings from thiongs that should just be left alone. Unless Its coming from the person who wrote it. Think about. We all could give our opinions on this song and all be completely be wrong. Yes there are hints in the song. But since this is an interpretation of this song I have to put what i think. But quite frankly i don't relly know. His simplicity and childish words do seem to relate to the age of innocence. But it could also be nuclear war, when it says " 'cause they'd fill the open air and leave tear drops everywhere", it could be relating to the chaos hiteria and pain caused by the war. But i really don't see that in the song. Its to melodic and joyful. In the words he used the beat. And the music video. But leading back to my earlier point. Songs are beautiful because hey don't need to have a meaning. One song about say... a truck, could mean twenty different things in the eyes of everyone else except for who actually made the song. So whatever you think the song is is up to what you hear and imagine in it.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This song, once you sit down and really think about it is pretty complex and deep. At first, I thought it was plain and simple about his insomnia. I suffer from insomnia myself (its 4:40am. Go figure) and basically believe that about 60% of it is based upon the need and desperation to get to sleep but...Its just not happening.
So, essentially his making observations of the world around him, while everyone else is sleeping. Fireflies for example, only come out at night. The foxtrot (keyboard), sock hop and disco ball are things hanging around in his room. Again, from personal experience and what may come across as painfully obvious, but once your eyes get used to the dark, you start to see the things around you.
However, I think the lyrics "please take me away from here" could mean that these things "are never as they seem" when veiwed in the dark. Honestly, sometimes stupid everyday things, can at times look alittle alarming in the dark before your eyes adjust. Also, the "please take me away from here" could equally mean 'please stop this insomnia, I just want to go to sleep and dream.'
But, later on what hit me as condradictory to the whole insomnia thing is that at the start he says "...If ten million fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep." If fireflies come out only at night, surely his saying his going to sleep for the night?!?!
And then again, at the end saying "To ten million fireflies, I'm wierd coz I hate goodbyes." Surely, again this can be either interpreted as either his just got up and watching them leave or his stayed up the entire night...Overall, from the insomnia stand point, the lyrics sometimes makes sense, whilst at same the time just plainly contradict each other. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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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.
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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.
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He wrote most his songs when he was suffering from insomnia.
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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…” -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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He said in an interview that it was about seeing the stars, and how they looked like fireflies, dumb fucks.
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It's about his insomnia he had as a child and his way of coping with it
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The song Fireflies represents someone who is high on some sort of crack and rthe fireflies represent the world ROUND HIM WHILE HE IS high. When he says he keeps a few in a jar he actually means he has more crack so he can go back to the mnagicla world of being high.
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