Fireflies (Owl City song)
"Fireflies" is the debut single from American electronica project Owl City's album Ocean Eyes. Frontman Adam Young wrote the track about seeing fireflies in his hometown of Owatonna, Minnesota while he was awake with insomnia. Matt Thiessen produced the song and provided guest vocals. The song is built around a "bleepy" synthline and includes lyrics about insomnia, fireflies and summer.
"Fireflies"
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks. Internationally, the song also topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. "Fireflies" was Owl City's only top forty hit in the United States until three years later when "Good Time", a duet with Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen, charted at No. 8.[4] It has been covered by Christina Grimmie, Cheryl Cole and others.
"Fireflies" is featured in the video game Disney Sing It: Party Hits, and was used in the promotional video for EyePet.[5] It is available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and Rock Band 3.[6][7] The song was released as a free download on the game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous.[8]
Background and release[edit]
"Fireflies" was posted onto Spinner and Spin as part of a single-a-month campaign. According to Owl City's manager Steve Bursky, the song was not intended to be released as a single, however he stated, "it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up."[9] Due to its digital success, the song was sent to alternative radio by the end of July. The track was later sent to contemporary hit radio.[9]
Composition[edit]
"Fireflies" is centered on Young's struggle with insomnia; he first developed the song "awake in the early hours of the morning" to occupy his mind. It was also inspired by a camping trip he took up to a "totally rustic and kind of remote lake in northern Minnesota"; he tried to emulate the experience of seeing a meteor shower that gave him "a cool idea of shooting stars being fireflies."[10] Young was living with his parents, and recorded most of the song in their unfinished basement. The song is layered with dozens of instrumental tracks, including its drum loop, piano, organ, synthesizer, vibraphone, violin, viola, and cello, which was performed by a cellist Young hired. He recorded electric guitar overlays for the second and third choruses but did not own an amplifier, so he plugged the instrument directly into his computer.[11]
The song's BPM count is 90, and its key is E♭ Major.[12]
Chart performance[edit]
"Fireflies", when featured as iTunes' free "Single of the Week," garnered 650,000 downloads, influencing Universal Republic to move Ocean Eyes' release date from September 1, 2009, to July 28.[24] The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in early-September at No. 97.[25] The song reached No. 1 during its tenth week, becoming Owl City's first No. 1 single and shifting 200,000 digital copies that week.[26][27] The song stayed at No. 1 for two non-consecutive weeks,[28] in the top ten for fifteen weeks and on the Hot 100 for 31 weeks.[29] "Fireflies" contributed to sales of the album Ocean Eyes, and was credited as being responsible for its entry to the top ten on the U.S. Billboard 200.[30] The song became one of the top 10 best-selling songs of 2009 in the US with 2,748,000 digital units sold by the end of that year.[31] On the Billboard Hot 100 2009 year-end chart, it was ranked sixtieth.[32] On the Billboard Hot 100 2010 year-end chart, it was ranked thirtieth.[33] The RIAA certified "Fireflies" 3× Platinum in June 2010. On January 25, 2023, the song was certified Diamond by the RIAA denoting sales of 10 million units.[34] The song became the 99th song in history to become certified Diamond by the RIAA.[35]
The song attained success worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the song entered at No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart.[36] The song would go on to make a 48-place jump to number two the following week, beaten only to the top by "Replay" by Iyaz.[37] The following week, it rose to number one and topped the chart for three consecutive weeks.[38] On January 2, 2011, it was revealed that "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.[39] As of September 2017, the song has sold over 844,000 copies in the UK.[40]
In Australia, the song entered at No. 38 and on the week of January 10, 2010, it topped the chart.[41] The song sold over 37,354 copies in Australia.[42] It was the second most-played song on Australian radio in 2010, according to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia.[43] In Japan, the song peaked at No. 3 and was ranked sixteenth on the 2010 year-end chart.[44] It reached No. 1 in Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (for 10 weeks) and the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Poland, Finland, Germany,[45] New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. As of September 2012, the song sold over 5 million copies worldwide.[46]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Fireflies" premiered on July 21, 2009 and was directed by Steve Hoover.[47][48] It features Adam Young playing the song on a Lowrey spinet organ in a toy-filled bedroom, where most of the toys (including Robie Sr.; a Tyrannosaurus rex; a Speak & Spell; toy cars, including one based on the UK children's TV character Brum; and a blimp) come to life. Most of the toys are older model toys, with most of them from the 1970s and 1980s (the exceptions being a RoboSapien and a Roboraptor). There are also vintage household devices such as a black-and-white television and a record player. As the song begins, Young presses a "magic" button on the organ's control panel, turning on various lamps and lanterns throughout the room, some shaped uniquely (e.g., one shaped like a lemon, and one like a hot-air balloon). The toys become sentient during the second verse, moving faster and more erratically as the song progresses towards the end. Once Young presses the "magic" button again, the toys deactivate and the room goes dark. The video ends with Young turning off his organ as the camera fades to black. The music video gained rotation on VH1 and MTV.[49]
As of September 2023 the music video has received of 522 million views of YouTube.