We've all heard the song Fireflies by Owl City. It's ubiquitous - you hear it on the radio, in grocery stores, and on all your friends' iPods. Now I'm not complaining about that because it's a good song and I like it. But I have to wonder how many people are aware of its true meaning. No, it's not about not being able to fall asleep. That's only what it appears to be about as a cover for a deeper message, in the same way that Puff the Magic Dragon is actually about marijuana. In this case, however, the hidden meaning is much more family-friendly. The song is actually about environmental and ecological concerns.
You would not believe your eyes,
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep,
Fireflies are in decline all over the world. Hence, seeing ten million (or any large number) of them in one place is an unusual occurence.
'Cause they'd fill the open air,
and leave teardrops everywhere
The fireflies are crying (teardrops) for their fellow fireflies, victims of pesticide, habitat loss, and other human activities.
You'd think me rude, but I would just stand and
stare...
The singer feels powerless to stop the fireflies' decline, and is not going to try, even though he feels morally obligated to make some kind of effort. Instead he will "just stand and stare". He fears that "you'd think me rude" because of this.
I'd like to make myself believe
That Planet Earth turns slowly,
The singer wishes that he could slow down the cycle of destruction, returning humanity to the slower, more harmonious ways of life that were prevalent long ago. An equally valid interpretation is that he wishes he could simply delude himself into believing that this was the case.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
The singer does not want to see what's happening to the world, but his conscience won't let him "sleep" (ignore the problem). A clearer way of phrasing the line might be, "I'm not sure I'd rather be awake than asleep".
'Cause everything is never as it seems...
On the surface, everything looks okay. Many large corporations and even some governments are trying to get us to believe that everything's fine. But "everything is never as it seems" - if you look closely, you can see it's all a pretense.
And I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
as they tried to teach me how to dance.
These lines are about the joy, fulfillment, inspiration, and wonder that people find in nature, especially unspoiled wilderness and healthy ecologies.
A foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bed,
It is significant to note that the foxtrot is above his head while the sock hop is under his bed. A foxtrot is an older style of dance, and the animal reference in the name and its high position indicate that it represents a higher way of being. The sock hop, meanwhile, is under the bed, a location commonly used as a hiding place, indicating that the singer regards it as shameful or wrong. Sock hops are typically associated with the '50s, when materialism was becoming not just a philosophy, but a way of life.
The disco ball is just hanging by a thread...
The disco ball is a metaphor for our materialistic culture, which is glittery and beautiful but serves no useful purpose. It's just hanging by a thread - it's not built on a solid foundation and the thread could break at any time. When and if it does, it is implied that our culture will shatter like a dropped disco ball.
Leave my door open just a crack
If the door is left closed, the singer presumably feels as if he would suffocate, but doesn't want to let all the air pollution in either. He tries to compromise by leaving the door open just a crack.
(Please take me away from here)
The singer wants to escape from the world, since he sees no solution to its problems.
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac,
(please take me away from here)
He also feels like a misfit, because of his concerns, which are not shared by his friends.
Why do I tire of counting sheep,
(please take me away from here)
when I'm far too tired to fall asleep?
Counting sheep here means ordinary, day-to-day life, the things you have to do to get by in our world, working a job, etc. He is doing this as a distraction, but he is frustrated, fed up, and depressed about how things are going with the environment, so it isn't working. It's interesting to note that counting anything is a mindless task that could be done as well or better by a computer, which may be a comment about the singer's job satisfaction.
To ten million fireflies,
I'm weird 'cuz i hate goodbyes,
I got misty eyes as we said farewell.
The fireflies are leaving. The singer is "weird" because he feels that he is the only one who cares.
But I know where several are,
if my dreams get real bizarre,
'cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar.
If fireflies (or any of a number of other species) go extinct in the wild, they will not be gone forever because they can be kept in captivity to continue the species.
I'd like to make myself believe
that Planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep
because my dreams are bursting at the seams...
Here "dream" is a reference to the American Dream, the luxurious but environmentally costly way of life that our culture has prized for decades. It's bursting at the seams as we realize that it's not a sustainable lifestyle. Unfortunately, when your dreams are destroyed, a sense of disillusionment is inevitable.
So there you have it. The true meaning of "Fireflies". Don't you like the song even better now?