What does Fireflies mean?

Owl City: Fireflies Meaning

Album cover for Fireflies album cover

Song Released: 2009


Fireflies Lyrics

You would not believe your eyes
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...

  1. anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2017 !⃝

    I think it's about an isane guy in an asylum that still sees himself as a child the 10 million fireflies are the stars and he's looking out the window at the stars dreaming about his childhood.And the 1000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs are the electric chair. Plus he mentions insomnia which could be another part of his

  2. anonymous
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    Jun 5th 2017 !⃝

    It's about higher logic only beknow to the fireflies. The fireflies represent a unbeknownst future where the US is birthed into the grasp of Communism. In short, the singer is a firefly and he lives in his basement

  3. anonymous
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    May 10th 2017 !⃝

    When you watch the music video with no music, you will understand it has something to do with children. On the text robot thing it says things like "Please take me away from here," and "Believe," and "Fireflies." If you guys can interpret that, then the song is interpreted. I 'believe' it is about how much fun believing is than what our modern world tells us is true. That's why he says 'Please take me away from here,' to express emotion of that he hates not being accepted for believing in stuff and having idiotic childhood fun. And the fireflies are merely something to think about and to marvel at.

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 17th 2017 !⃝

    I think it is about his childhood summers. You can only catch fireflies in summer.

    And he says "its weird cuz i hate goodbyes" so he is symbolizing the summer being over.

  5. anonymous
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    Mar 30th 2017 !⃝

    Fireflies is a great song that gives different interpretations to those who want to hear certain things that give them hope and love for the song. My interpretation is that that since it takes place in the night, and the night is a common metaphor for being "in the dark", or not having hope for the future and not knowing what the next morning brings, this song is about hope and the impact hope can have on the way one "dances" through life when everything seems black. The fireflies are seeds of hope, small memories and snippets of joy that "leave teardrops everywhere" as the person in the song misses those times. Fireflies teaching him how to dance symbolize that though all those good things happened in the past, better thing are in hold for the future and that they are showing how to act and think in the future. He is an insomniac as he can't go to sleep, or is afraid of leaving his fate to destiny and not knowing what comes next. Please take me away from here comes from his initial wishes to stay young. The fireflies leave him with misty eyes as he will remember his past happiness, and the disco ball is hanging from the thread of reality and imagination. So basically, this person has been visited by the past, perhaps in his dreams, by the fireflies, the LIGHTS of his youth, that give him hope for the future and show him how to dance, take a carefree approach on his future and not dread it. They help him sleep, and dream of a better time. He keeps a few in a jar, remembers the lights behind him as he faces the dark night ahead of him. This may not be the interpretation everyone believes, but it's what this writer wants to believe.

  6. anonymous
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    Mar 29th 2017 !⃝

    i think its about the beauty i life, the beauty you see when your a kid. he's trying to tell us to hold onto that beauty.

  7. anonymous
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    Mar 25th 2017 !⃝

    The classic story based off of memories of the past of oneself.

  8. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2017 !⃝

    The song is expressing the wonders of Astral Projection, a phenomenon where your consciousness, or spirit, leaves your physical body while you sleep. During this, you are not bound by the laws of physics, and can therefore fly, create things from thought, travel the universe, see past and future events, communicate with spiritually higher beings, and much more. This can be recognized from phrases like "stay awake when I'm asleep", "too tired to fall asleep" (your physical body needs rest, but your spirit does not), and talks frequently about sleeping and dreams.

  9. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2017 !⃝

    It's about his insomnia

  10. anonymous
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    Feb 20th 2017 !⃝

    He is talking about his childhood because the whole song is about not sleeping and wanting to stay up late, which is what every lid wants to do. He misses it and the fireflies could also be symbolic for childhood because many kids would catch fireflies as kids.

  11. anonymous
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    Jan 29th 2017 !⃝

    To tell it straight, this song is about what happens when you learn to dream.

  12. anonymous
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    Nov 5th 2016 !⃝

    Its about lucid dreaming. He literally sees millions of fireflies, then flies to space and sees earth, etc.

  13. anonymous
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    Oct 24th 2016 !⃝

    It is about not everything being as it seems and we should just accept it and move on.

  14. anonymous
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    Jul 3rd 2016 !⃝

    It's about his fame, first him having it and having to live up to the expectations of the fame, then him slowly realizing that his fans *The fireflies* He gets hugs from the fans explaining the fireflies hugging him, and then he slowly starts to lose his fame in the end.

  15. anonymous
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    Jun 5th 2016 !⃝

    WE WILL NEVER KNOW only the artist does... Unless he said it himself

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway



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