Fireflies (Owl City song)
Introduction "'''Fireflies'''" is the debut single from American electronica project Owl City's album ''Ocean Eyes''. Frontman Adam Young wrote how he enjoyed the fireflies in his hometown of Owatonna, Minnesota, and the rest of the track about seeing fireflies while he was awake with insomnia, with Matt Thiessen also producing and providing guest vocals. The song is built around a "bleepy" synthline and includes lyrics about insomnia, fireflies and summer.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.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''. It is available as downloadable content for ''Guitar Hero 5'', ''Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' and ''Rock Band 3''. The song was released as a free download on the game ''Tap Tap Revenge 3'' by Tapulous.
Background and release "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." 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.
Composition "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." 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.The song's BPM count is 90, and its key is E♭ Major.
Critical reception "Fireflies" was generally well received by music critics. Ben Sheehan of ''Billboard'' called the track, "a welcome refreshment." Praising the song for being "uniquely constructed," he also added, "it's the pianos and guitars that really crack the song wide open." In another positive review, Nick Levine of Digital Spy remarked, "there's nothing twee or cutesy about the socking great chorus Young unleashes here." Caroline Sullivan at ''The Guardian'' called the tune "unfeasibly bouncy". AltSounds stated that the song is, "simply built up with a calm, gentle automated vocal alongside some dreamy pimples of teen fantasy." Ben Sisario of ''The New York Times'' described the track as "pensive yet bubbly." The song was widely compared to the music of synth-pop duo the Postal Service; Young denied it was his goal to emulate their sound or vocalist Ben Gibbard. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called it an extraordinarily "obvious" lift of their sound. Gabriela Tully Claymore, writing for Stereogum in 2017, remembered it as "diet Postal Service". The CBC called the track a "soppy ballad," criticizng the song's arrangement and lyrics.
Chart performance "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.The song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early-September at No. 97.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. The song stayed at No. 1 for two non-consecutive weeks, in the top ten for fifteen weeks and on the Hot 100 for 31 weeks. "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.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. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 2009 year-end chart, it was ranked sixtieth. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 2010 year-end chart, it was ranked thirtieth. 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. The song became the 99th song in history to become certified Diamond by the RIAA.The song attained success worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the song entered at No. 50 on the UK Singles Chart. 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. The following week, it rose to number one and topped the chart for three consecutive weeks. On January 2, 2011, it was revealed that "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK. As of September 2017, the song has sold over 844,000 copies in the UK.In Australia, the song entered at No. 38 and on the week of January 10, 2010, it topped the chart. The song sold over 37,354 copies in Australia. It was the second most-played song on Australian radio in 2010, according to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia. In Japan, the song peaked at No. 3 and was ranked sixteenth on the 2010 year-end chart. 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, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. As of September 2012, the song sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
Music video The music video for "Fireflies" premiered on July 21, 2009 and was directed by Steve Hoover. 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.
Legacy "Fireflies" was an inescapable hit; ''Spin'' columnist Rob Arcand wrote that the tune "cascaded throughout the world, inescapable in public spaces in the years that followed. Something about its mawkish, saccharine lyrics were so flawlessly inoffensive as to make it the perfect song for light-rock radio, and the track rippled through airwaves in malls, airports, commercials, and public transit until even the most earnest fans grew a little tired." American electronic producer James Ferraro, commonly credited with pioneering the electronic genre vaporwave, called "Fireflies" the best song of the 21st century, interpreting it on Twitter as having themes of mass surveillance and "circadian rhythm disorder from ever present ''sic'' devices".===Internet meme===In May 2017, the song was repurposed as an Internet meme, usually involving the song being played at an extremely loud volume or being remixed to fit a certain theme. Another variant of the meme involved writing a pun for the line "You would not believe your eyes, if ten million fireflies". The song received further notability in June when Owl City was asked to interpret the lyric "I get a thousand hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs." Following its virality as an internet meme, the song re-entered the ''Billboard'' charts at number eight on the US Rock Streaming Songs chart.
Awards and nominations +Awards and nominations for "Fireflies" Year Organization Award Result Ref(s) 2010 Q Awards Best Track   The Record of the Year Record of the Year   Billboard Japan Music Awards Hot 100 Airplay of the Year   2011 Flecking Awards Best Video   2013 Vevo Certified Awards 100,000,000 Views  }
Track listing
Charts ===Weekly charts===+Weekly chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2009–2010) Peak position Canada AC (''Billboard'') 7 Canada CHR/Top 40 (''Billboard'') 5 Canada Hot AC (''Billboard'') 1Croatia (HRT) 1Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 3Germany (Airplay Chart) 1 Italy (''Musica e Dischi'') 16 Japan (Japan Hot 100) 3 Latvia (European Hit Radio) 1 Lithuania (European Hit Radio) 1 Luxembourg Digital Song Sales (''Billboard'') 3Mexico Ingles Airplay (''Billboard'') 8Portugal Digital Song Sales (''Billboard'') 4 South Korea (GAON) (International Chart) 97 Venezuela Top Anglo (Record Report) 3+2017 weekly chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2017) Peak position US Rock Streaming Songs (''Billboard'') 8===Year-end charts===+2009 year-end chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2009) Position Australia (ARIA)  79 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 74 Denmark (Tracklisten) 29 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 100 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 26 US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 60+2010 year-end chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2010) Position Australia (ARIA) 6 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 27 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 14 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 14 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 26 Denmark (Tracklisten) 47 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 13 France (SNEP) 75 Germany (Media Control Charts) 36 Ireland (IRMA) 7 Italy (FIMI) 93 Japan (Japan Hot 100) 16 Latvia (European Hit Radio) 21 Lithuania (European Hit Radio) 22 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 14 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 26 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 44 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 24 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 28 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 6 US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 30 US Adult Contemporary (''Billboard'') 22 US Adult Top 40 (''Billboard'') 21 US Mainstream Top 40 (''Billboard'') 33+2011 year-end chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2011) Position US Rock Digital Song Sales (''Billboard'') 44+2017 year-end chart performance for "Fireflies" Chart (2017) Position US Rock Streaming Songs (''Billboard'') 38
Certifications
Release history + Release dates for "Fireflies" Region Date Format Label  United States July 14, 2009 Digital download Universal Republic  Canada United States September 1, 2009 Contemporary hit radio  Australia November 9, 2009 CD  United Kingdom January 8, 2010 Digital download  Ireland January 14, 2010  Germany January 22, 2010  United Kingdom February 22, 2010 CD
See also *List of best-selling singles in Australia*List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)*List of Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks number-one singles of 2010*Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 2009*List of number-one singles in Australia in 2010*List of number-one singles from the 2010s (UK)*List of number-one singles of 2010 (Ireland)*List of number-one singles (Sweden)
References
External links **