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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When I saw the music video, I thought the "fireflies" in the song were actually lights-- as in lights on TV screens, computer screens, and other technology-laden toys. While I agree with people that the song is about childhood, I also think that it is about technology. Listen to the song (or watch the video) and pay very close attention to the lyrics. The artist could be talking about, metaphorically, childhood memories lost or technology keeping him awake.
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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."
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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. -
Fireflies in this song are all the memories of his childhood.Adam Young also has insomnia so that could part of it. "Plant earth turns slowly" means that part of him wants to still be kid and part wants to grow up. I think this song is about thinking back to when you were a kid and not wanting to let it go. Adam young did a fabulous job on this though!
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I don't agree that this song is about childhood (although I haven't seen the video so I obviously could be wrong) I think it portrays the ignorance of humanity and how we take advantage of the world we p live in. Many people would 'not believe their eyes if ten million fireflies lit up the world as I fell asleep' yet people take advantage of all the millions of stars in the sky, which is what fireflies would resemble at night. He says throughout the song he would rather be asleep than be awake because of his dreams, which I think shows how we again take advantage of the world because we would rather be asleep and dream about amazing things instead of seeing all the amazing things on earth, showing ignorance. He also says 'I'd like to make myself believe that planet earth spins slowly' which is ironic as obviously the earth does spin slowly, which I again think he is showing how people take advantage abd wish for beauty etc when we already have it :) but thats just my opinion
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Funny as it sound but this song is about a man Who has just recently broken up with someone. The fireflies here is referring to the memories he had with her. In the first verse, he was confronted with too many memories while trying to sleep. There were Memories that haunt him which left him teardrops everywhere. The refrain tells us about the depression he his going through that's why he thinks the Earth is turning slowly. He said he would not rather say he's ok if he's not because everything is not tje same anymore. He said in the next few lines that those memories also taught him a lot like having fun. So, it's not only tears that it brought. The third verse tells us about his longing. Here he said he is still wishing she would come back because he left the door open and left him insomniac for thinking about her. Then the next verse, he's trying to say goodbye to the memories. He could be deleting pictures in his iphone or burning polaroids and other stuff. But he also said he kept some of the memories in the jar. He might be referring on the memories on his mind or some things he can't throw out.
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I personally agree with entry on 12/20/09 about escaping memories from a traumatic childhood. That was what came to me exactly the first time I heard it. If you understand or study the evolution of sleep disorders with people, there is a lot of times this very issue that is unresolved and haunting. But the reflective yet happier tone speaks to me of acknowledging and dealing with all of it in a healthy manner.
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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.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It's about trying to fall asleep duh you guys come on did you never try to fall asleep and look out your window in the summer time as a kid...come on think about it but for real like don't you remember. best times as a kid is the little things you think about lol don't you remember just letting your mind wonder..how creepy and scary was it along with how fun and exciting it was.nothing like the mind wondering at a young age...just my opinion anyway!
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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
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I think he made it to confuse all of you people, so he could read your blogs and laugh..
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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 -
How did you end up making “Fireflies” and the other songs on your most recent album?
“Fireflies” was inspired by a camping trip I took up to a totally rustic and kind of remote lake in northern Minnesota, where there isn’t really much of anything. I can remember sleeping out on a dock on the edge of this lake and looking up at the sky. There was a meteor shower that night. I remember thinking, what a cool idea of shooting stars being fireflies, and trying to translate that into music. That’s what spurred it on. I was also influenced by the lack of sleep that tends to happen."
FROM AN INTERVIEW BY EW.COM OCTOBER 30, 2009 -
i think--in my opinion, of course--that Fireflies is about a daydreamer that would rather live behind his own fairy tales. when Adam says "please take me away from here" i think he's showin his way to escape is in his dreams. and when he's talking abotu insomnia, he means that he hasn't been able to fully get lost in his dreams, which all artists worry about every now and again. that's what it means to me, i mean.
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