Owl City

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/wiki/Owl Citycreator

I'd Like To Make Myself Believe That Planet Earth Turns Slowly

Owl City is Adam Young with a synthesizer. His most popular song to date^[when?] is "Fireflies", a sweet little song that seems to be about a boy whose dreams are inhabited by countless of the aforenamed insects (in actuality, it's a song about Adam's insomnia, but very few people seem to either know or care). Some of his other songs include "Vanilla Twilight", a nostalgic look at unrequited love, and "Umbrella Beach" which is about...something. His music tends to cause lots of WAFF, and is rather polarizing.

Discography:

• Of June (EP) (2007)
• Maybe I'm Dreaming (2008)
• Ocean Eyes (2009)
• All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011)
• Shooting Star (EP) (2012)

Owl City provides examples of the following tropes:

• Actual Pacifist: He said so on his blog, and it could be implied in the song "Dental Care":

"I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights".

• Adorkable: Adam is this without a doubt.
• A Worldwide Punomenon:
  • "Dental Care". Just... "Dental Care".
  • Same thing with "Rugs from Me to You", even in the title.
• After the End: The setting of the "Alligator Sky" video.
• Arc Words: The phrase "tired eyes" has occurred in "I'll Meet You There", "Lonely Lullaby", and "Shooting Star".
• Book Ends: "The Real World" and "Strawberry Avalanche" begin and end with the same set of lyrics.
• Cursed with Awesome: Imagine: he never would have got this famous if he didn't have insomnia.
• The Cameo:
  • Shaquille O'Neal in the video for "Vanilla Twilight".
  • Lights in the video for "Deer in The Headlights".
• Cloudcuckoolander: Just listen to those lyrics.
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful has given us a song based on this. "The Real World" pretty much runs with this concept in quite a nice way:

"Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't wanna live there."

• Colony Drop: Possibly referenced in Kamikaze.

Oh comet, come down/kamikaze over me.

• • For reference, think about the meaning of 'kamikaze' in WWII context.
• Colorful Song: "Technicolor Phase".
• Cue the Sun: While not actually the sun, the Aurora-cloud... thing in the "Vanilla Twilight" video glows more colorfully and brightly when Adam starts the last verse, and the onlookers react quite happily. It is, of course, fitting the lyrics:

When violet eyes get brighter, and heavy wings grow lighter, I'll taste the sky and feel alive again.

• Depraved Dentist: Referenced in one verse of "Dental Care".

"Have a seat", he says pleasantly As he shakes my hand and practically laughs at me "Open up nice and wide", he says peering in And with a smirk he says, "Don't have a fit This'll just pinch a bit", as he tries not to grin.

• Double Entendre:
  • When you look back on it, this line from "Sunburn": "The lantern died that night but we didn't need to see..."
  • From "If My Heart was a House": "Chills run down my spine as our fingers intwine / And your sighs harmonize with mine."
  • "We'll turn out all of the lights and set this ballroom aglow" is a bit more subtle, but it's still there.
• Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): The lovestruck protagonist of "Deer in the Headlights" is pepper sprayed and punched in the face, respectively, by two women he approaches simply to say "Hello". Presumably this is intended to be funny.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: "Christmas Song". Go on, guess what it's about.
• Fan Nickname: The male-Lights by fans of Lights, Owl City fans tend to refer to her as the female-Owl City.
• Growing Up Sucks: "Fireflies" is partially about losing your childlike sense of wonder and imagination as you grow up.
• Haunted House: The setting of "Plant Life".
• I Am the Band
• Incredibly Lame Pun:
  • "Dental Care" is loaded with these:

"I've been to the dentist a thousand times / so I know the drill." "Golf and alcohol don't mix / and that's why I don't drink and drive." "When hygienists leave on long vacations / That's when dentists scream / And lose their patience."

• • If the bombs go off the sun will still be shining / Cause I've heard it said that every MUSHROOM cloud has a silver lining... Incredibly Lame Pun and Lyrical Dissonance at the same time.
  • Adam's particularly fond of Incredibly Lame Puns on his Twitter. Just check a backlog, and you'll see. Here's one "gem":

Me: Whale you be my valentine? You: Dolphinitely.

• • In "Cave In", one line is "Riding a dirtbike down a turnpike/always takes its toll on me."
  • 'Honey and the Bee has a classic one:

"I would make like a tree and leave."

• • "Plant Life" has this:

Your spirit is sweet, so pull off your sheet/and give me a ghost of a smile.

• • And this:

Show me your teeth, 'cause you're a teddy beneath / so just grin and bear it a while.

• • "Take to the Sky" was played in The Guardians of Ga'Hoole. While exploring the owl city.
• The Lost Woods: Described in great detail in "Plant Life" as a dream nonetheless:

I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest/the trees keep the tempo and they sway in time...

• Lyrical Dissonance: He has this odd habit of inserting the creepiest lyrics into otherwise innocent, peppy synth-pop. "Scratched on the back of both my eyelids", "Just in case my head caves in", and "Paint runs from your mouth like a waterfall, and your lungs crystallize" are a few examples.
  • Special mention for "The Bird and The Worm": "If my segments get separated, I'll scream / and you'll be there! "
    • This might be a metaphor for falling apart at the seams/feeling overstressed, and if you call out, the person you love will be there.
  • "Cheer up and dry your damp eyes / And tell me when it rains / And I'll blend up that rainbow above you / And shoot it through your veins"
  • From the song "Galaxies", off his latest album: "Summit the sunset / Dovetail the dragnet / And blow your backbone to bits!"
    • Justified in that it's about the Challenger explosion.
  • "And the chatty tree frogs will never wanna leave your throat."
  • "Plant Life" has a section in the chorus where Adam sings about "daisies to push through the floor." As in, pushing daisies. The lyrics around it go kind of the same way.
  • More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/o/owl_city/#share
• Meaningful Echo: Between "Alligator Sky" and "Plant Life" of all things:

I'm scared to death that I'll never be afraid. Cause I don't feel dead anymore, and I'm not afraid anymore.

• Name's the Same: As a certain Antichrist.
• Not Christian Rock: Adam Young is a professed Christian, but does not sing about it at all, which is rather nice actually.
  • He does have a couple songs with some definite Christian overtones (see "Meteor Shower" and "Tidal Wave") and does mention Jesus in "Christmas Song" (because it's, you know, a Christmas song) but that's really it.
    • He made a cover of In Christ Alone. It's on his blog.
  • There are a couple more coming up on his new album; Galaxies being a notable one that got leaked, and being an example that is a lot of fun, even if you're not religious.
  • Also, said new album is called All Things Bright and Beautiful. As in, the name of a hymn.
  • ... not that any of this stops some people from professing that every single one of his songs is somehow about his faith. After all, if he's Christian, everything in his life must be directly related to that, right?
• Scenery Porn: "The Real World" has some very neat examples:

"From the green belt balcony, the wildfires look so pretty." "To the ruby redwood tree, and to the velvet climbing ivy, painted all mahogany, I'd never leave if it were up to me." "With a starry brush, paint the dusk venetian blue, because in the evening hush, you'll never believe the view'

• Shout-Out:
  • "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?"
  • "If my heart was a compass, you'd be North..." Adam is apparently a big fan of the series.
  • Almost the entire music video to "Deer in the Headlights" was a shout out to Back to The Future.
• Signature Song: Easily "Fireflies".
• Silly Love Songs: "The Bird and the Worm", "Tip of the Iceberg", "On the Wing", "The Saltwater Room", "If My Heart Was a House..." The list goes on.
  • It should be noted, however, that he almost never used the word "love" in the lyrics of any of these songs, which accounts for some of his more heartfelt lyrics that actually express love in *gasp* a creative way!
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful brings a more traditional, but no less awesome and sweet example, "Honey and the Bee". Made more sweet dream-y by the beautiful chorus, including the following fuzzies-inducing lyric:

"But if I reached for your hand would your eyes get wide?"

• Sweet Dreams Fuel: Practically his entire discography.
• Snow Means Love: "Tip of the Iceberg".
• The Stars Are Going Out: Referenced in a lyric from "Honey and the Bee":

"Cause when the stars silhouette me I'm scared they'll forget me and flicker out..."

• Updated Rerelease: Several songs in Ocean Eyes can be found on earlier albums with slight changes.
• Word Salad Lyrics: Pretty much any given point of any of his songs. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to see someone compile a list of increasingly silly unconnected words to be used in just one of his songs.
  • Believe it or not, it has happened.
  • Apparently that is a way he comes up with possible song titles.